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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27511072">Utter Confusion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireStorm1991/pseuds/FireStorm1991'>FireStorm1991</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Ball</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Friendship, Out of Character, Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-08 04:02:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,609</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27511072</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireStorm1991/pseuds/FireStorm1991</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bulma and Krillin find information that can stop the whole android scenario from happening. In the meantime, an arrogant Saiyan trying to understand his newfound emotions. The title speaks for itself for this OOC, three-year time frame.</p><p>Original FFN Run: October 30, 2011 - March 26, 2012</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Bulma Briefs/Yamcha</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the plot. Just my imagination and an excessive amount of boredom.</p><p>This is primarily a VXB fic during the three years before the androids, but a little different. Bulma and Krillin both stumble across some things that could stop the whole android thing from ever happening; so it's pretty much an AU, especially since in this fic, Trunks is going to tell them what the androids look like ahead of time. At the same time, Vegeta (who will be very OOC) will be struggling with his hidden emotions and adjusting to the new, safe world around him. In my opinion, his whole arrogant "I hate everyone" attitude is just a front to defend himself. So enjoy this randomly thought up story. And if you don't like, you don't have to read. :3 *innocent smiles*</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"<em>Three years from now the world will be attacked by two androids created by Dr. Gero," Trunks explained to Goku. "All the Z-warriors will die, including my father. I'm the only one left to fight."</em></p><p>
  <em>Trunks told Goku everything about his time, who his parents were (which shocked Goku and Piccolo greatly), and gave him the antidote for the heart virus that would eventually attack his system.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Then Goku asked Trunks something he didn't expect. "Trunks, I don't know how much you can tell me, but will you tell me what the androids look like?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Trunks thought about the things his mother said he could and couldn't do or say and that topic never once came up, so Trunks didn't see the harm in telling him. Who knew; maybe they would be able to find a way to stop Dr. Gero from ruining the lives of innocent humans and turning them into ruthless killing machines. Then their timeline would be safe.</em>
</p><p>"<em>They're twins," Trunks replied, "a girl with long, blonde hair and a boy with long, black hair not too much older than you or Krillin I think.”</em></p><hr/><p>Bulma thought about what Goku and Piccolo had told them. She wasn't exactly happy about the situation. In fact she was angry, angry at the fact that Goku and Vegeta would rather let the androids come around just so they could fight. She sighed thinking she needed to hang out with other women more often. There was too much testosterone in her one group of friends and, truth be told, she found it annoying at times.</p><p>It also irritated her that both Goku and Vegeta weren't thinking about one thing: they were Saiyans who could fight and defend themselves while the rest of the world was filled with humans who couldn't. Even if they were to fight and destroy the androids, how many people would have to die in order for them to get their fight? Sure, they could always wish people back with the Dragon Balls, but now that she was older, she realized there were limitations and they shouldn't depend on them for absolutely everything.</p><p>But what could she do? She was a scientist and where she could prove her points in conferences and debates, she would never be able to convince the most stubborn group of men she had ever met to yield. Why did they insist on fighting a losing battle? Yeah, Bulma had a lot of faith in Goku, but so much could go wrong with this whole thing. And Vegeta? Well, no one, save Goku and Gohan, trusted him and even that was saying something. Her mother didn't count though because for some reason, she thought Vegeta could do no wrong. Bulma scoffed at that.</p><p>Speaking of Vegeta, didn't the mysterious youth say he would die too? And yet he still wanted to fight. How did he feel about what the boy had said? She knew he had died once before on Namek, killed by his former master, but even when he had stayed at the compound with her family before, he kept himself scarce. He trained pretty much twenty-four hours a day. Bulma wondered if he ever ate or slept.</p><p>"Hey, Bulma, would you mind going to get that delightful young man for lunch?" her mother asked. "Come to think of it, I've barely seen him around here much at all this month. The leftovers are always there and he never comes for mealtimes. I hope he's eating something. Maybe I should go make more food."</p><p>Bulma rolled her eyes at her mother's antics and went to go haul Vegeta in, though she knew that probably wouldn't ever happen. She would never admit this to anyone, especially her parents, but she was worried about the fallen prince. Back when the Namekians were staying there, she could only describe him as being depressed. He would barely eat and he never conversed with anyone except about training equipment. He would sometimes sit outside on the roof alone looking into the sky. Whenever he ate, it would be food he got from the fridge himself and if anyone came into the kitchen while he was eating, he would watch them cautiously before he continued eating. Vegeta was always on edge, but then Bulma tried to talk to him. It never went over well, but after lecturing him too many times, to shut her up, he would eat one meal a week with the Briefs, but he would always watch whoever prepared his food. Bulma never really understood why, and shrugged it off then. Then he went out into space for a while to find Goku and, when he came back, he was acting the same way he did when he first stayed with her family and that was NOT a good thing.</p><p>Bulma knocked on the door to the Gravity Room and was met with no reply.</p><hr/><p>Vegeta had worked himself to near death, as always. He smirked at the fact that not only had he survived close to a month with no food and little water, but he spent the entire time at 300 G's; however, he was so physically drained that as soon as he shut the GR down, he hit the floor. The injuries that he attained from his own blasts hadn't healed at all since all of his energy went to his survival under the continuous high G effects.</p><p>Vegeta closed his eyes to rest for a while before he heard a knock on the door. He sensed that it was the blue-haired woman who was best friends with his rival. Ignoring the knock was the best solution in his mind.</p><p>Vegeta didn't trust her or anyone else on the planet for that matter. Whether or not they needed him to help fight the androids wouldn't keep him safe. He had attacked their planet, killed their people, and he had enjoyed every minute of it. But who could blame him? It's what he was bred to do since he was a child. It was his life: purge planets of their inhabitants; report to Frieza; and then he would either be sent on another mission with no rest or time to eat, get punished with starvation for taking too long to complete an assignment, or get beaten for no reason and told that he did something wrong when he knew he didn't. That was his life in space. What made Earth any different?</p><p>Vegeta didn't trust the Briefs family even though he was staying there. Both the doctor and the blue-haired women were scientists. They could be plotting against him and try to hurt him with their technology. It was one of the reasons he avoided scientists on Frieza's ship. And then the blonde woman…no one could be THAT cheery all the time. And she prepared all the meals. There were few poisons that could work on Saiyans, but seeing as they had known one for years, they could have figured out which ones. That was one of the reasons he would eat anything they gave him. As for the leftovers, why would they poison food that they would try to eat in the future?</p><p>"Vegeta," the blue-haired woman called. "Come out of there. You need to eat something."</p><p>Vegeta grimaced. Who was she to tell him, the Prince of All Saiyans, what to do? She didn't know him or what his limits were and she never would. She was too naïve to understand. He thought he made that clear to her before he took off into space when she tried to get closer to him.</p><p>"Vegeta," Bulma called louder. "I'm not leaving until you come out of there."</p><p>Vegeta rolled his eyes and reluctantly got up to open the door. When he did, Bulma stared at him wide-eyed.</p><p>"Oh my God, Vegeta! What the hell did you do to yourself?" she screamed making him cringe.</p><p>"Shut up, woman," he said covering his ears. "I'm right here. And what does it look like? I'm training."</p><p>"Not anymore," she replied. "First you're going to let me treat those wounds and then you're going to eat something."</p><p>Vegeta glared at her. "I will do no such thing," he said darkly while narrowing his eyes at her in suspicion. Bulma could tell he wasn't being arrogant, but that he was guarding himself. It finally hit her that the reason he was always on edge was because of the way he lived his life before.</p><p><em>Some genius I am, </em>she thought bitterly. <em>That one only took me like, oh yeah, almost a year.</em></p><p>Vegeta stared at her waiting for her retort. When he got no response, he pushed past her. Bulma finally spoke up.</p><p>"Look, Vegeta, I'm not going to hurt you," she said. "I just want to help you."</p><p>"You? Hurt me?" Vegeta scoffed. "Nonsense." Bulma could hear the hidden uncertainty in his words, even though he would never admit it.</p><p>"Please, let me help you," Bulma pleaded to the bleeding Saiyan in front of her.</p><p>Something about her tone sounded genuinely concerned. He couldn't detect any hint of a lie.</p><p><em>Why? </em>he thought. How could this woman be concerned about him? How could this kind, gentle, beautiful woman want to help a cold and cruel murderer? He sneered at his own thoughts remembering that this was all an act and that if he let his guard down, she might try something. Not that she could hurt him on her own, but he'd rather not deal with that third-class Saiyan that managed to humiliate him…three times. He then realized he called the woman beautiful and mentally scoffed at the thought.</p><p>Bulma backed down a little from the force of Vegeta's intense gaze. He still wasn't saying anything. Then he closed his eyes, inhaled, and reluctantly nodded. At this point, he was so tired from his training that, for the first time in his life, he didn't want to argue.</p><p>Bulma flashed him a smile and he nearly blushed cursing his body for betraying his stoic expression.</p><p>"Alright, tough guy," Bulma innocently flirted. "Let's get you patched up."</p><p>"Hn," Vegeta replied.</p><hr/><p>Bulma led Vegeta to the medical room her father had built. Having so many friends who were fighters, you never knew when you'd need to treat one of them.</p><p>She motioned for Vegeta to sit on the table while she got the first aid supplies. He watched her gathering supplies across the room. Then she went over to him and started cleaning his wounds out with some liquid that stung, but he didn't let it show. If humans could handle it, he could too.</p><p>Vegeta was mesmerized by how gentle her touch was. For someone who was out to get him, she was certainly a good actress.</p><p>"You know, Vegeta," Bulma started breaking him from his thoughts, "I'm supposed to be a genius and it took me this long to realize you didn't trust me."</p><p>Vegeta smirked and laughed darkly. "Well, you are a genius," he teased in a low tone.</p><p>Bulma laughed and shook her head. Then she looked up at Vegeta. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you're safe here. That creep, Frieza, is gone and none of us want to hurt you." Vegeta scoffed. "It's true," she chided. "So just don't do this to yourself anymore, okay? You don't have to worry about eating with us. You can get the food yourself. You can go to sleep. There's no one here that wants to attack you. I mean really, do you honestly think my mother and father could do anything? Or me? I'm not a fighter."</p><p>Vegeta eyed her again. "No, no you're not," he settled.</p><p>"So, will you trust me?" Bulma asked holding out her hand.</p><p>Vegeta was expecting something to happen when she held out her hand in front of him. He had no idea what this odd gesture meant.</p><p>"It's a handshake," Bulma told him. "It can be used as a greeting, a way to say goodbye, sealing a deal, or introducing oneself to new people to make friends."</p><p>"Hn. Pathetic," Vegeta said turning away from her gesture.</p><p>Bulma gave a sad smile. If Vegeta didn't trust her enough to shake her hand, it probably wouldn't happen. It was too bad really, as he had no one except another Saiyan whom he hated and then any of that Saiyan's friends, and most of them hated him or didn't trust him.</p><p>Bulma felt bad for the prideful Saiyan. He was alone, no family or friends. She couldn't imagine going through life without her parents or her friends. They had been through so much together. The only "friends" Vegeta ever had were dead and he killed one of them out of anger.</p><p>"Okay, then, we're all done," Bulma said as she finished bandaging him up. "Now we should get you something to eat. I'm sure you must be hungry."</p><p>Vegeta's stomach answered for him and he cursed under his breath. Bulma thought it was cute. He was acting like a stubborn little kid who was trying to act like an adult. She smiled and took his hand and he looked up at her like she was crazy and like she had committed some sort of horrible offense.</p><p>"I really meant what I said, Vegeta," Bulma said seriously. "I'm not out to get you and neither are my parents."</p><p>Vegeta's eyes narrowed at her. He honestly didn't care, but he decided to ask, "And your friends?" At least on Frieza's ship, he knew who his enemies were…everyone.</p><p>Bulma grinned. "Well, Goku wouldn't do anything to you as long as you don't decide to start blasting random buildings or harming people. Usually the others follow his lead. Piccolo won't do anything, again, unless you start harming others. He'll stay out of your way, though. He used to be our enemy too." Vegeta was surprised. Bulma continued. "Actually, pretty much everyone was. I met Goku and then he was training with that pervert Roshi with Krillin who was his biggest rival. Yamcha was a bandit trying to steal the Dragon Balls from us. Tien's master was Roshi's rival so Tien planned on killing Goku, but switched sides. We're a pretty interesting group of people."</p><p>"Heh, at least you're smart enough to know that much," Vegeta retorted.</p><p>"Come on. Let's go get something to eat. Then you can go back to training or whatever the hell you do," Bulma joked. Vegeta was slightly amused, but he didn't let it show, covering it up with a look of contempt. "Lighten up," she teased. "You need to learn how to relax."</p><p>Vegeta was partly thankful that he wouldn't have to keep his guard up at all times, at least around the woman. He realized that she really was naïve despite her adventures with Kakarot and the time on Namek. A part of him felt a slight protectiveness over her pure soul, but he shook it off as a weakness caused by exhaustion. Maybe he should be more careful while training.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.</p><p>Warning: Cannon scene, but I'm going to try to sway from using the exact words because I don't own anything :3 And, SPOILER: Also, for the androids, I've seen the names Juu and Jay used a lot and since they aren't androids yet, I think I'm going to use those.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Another month went by as Vegeta continued his training. He stopped worrying about whether or not the Briefs planned to hurt him or not. If they wanted to, he'd given them ample opportunity. It was to test if what the woman said was true. He found that it was. The woman was right about her parents. They wouldn't do anything; they were just strange creatures all together. If anyone was intelligent enough to hurt him, it was the woman, but she hadn't and she was the one who always bandaged him up when he went overboard with his training. She even went so far as to defend him to her "boyfriend," whatever that was. He remembered it like it was yesterday. Neither of the two had known he was there.</p><p>"<em>Hey, B, what are your plans for the day?" Yamcha asked.</em></p><p>"<em>Oh, well, I have some work to catch up on and then I was working on an upgrade for the GR. That crazy Saiyan is going to end up breaking it at the rate he's going and I'd rather not have to rebuild it from scratch.”</em></p><p>"<em>I don't know why you do it, Bulma," Yamcha replied. "The guy is a freak. Have you forgotten that nearly two years ago he and that other guy killed me, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Piccolo?"</em></p><p>"<em>No, I haven't forgotten," Bulma admitted. Vegeta who was listening tensed, thinking he might hear her say something that proved she was out to get him. He was wrong. "But that was something he did in the past. I mean, come on, we were enemies before we started dating."</em></p><p>"<em>Yeah, but I didn't try to kill you," Yamcha retorted.</em></p><p>"<em>You were afraid of me," Bulma teased. "How would that have ever happened?"</em></p><p>"<em>Oh, shut up," Yamcha muttered in irritation causing Bulma to giggled at his expression.</em></p><p>"<em>And Tien tried to kill Goku and Piccolo tried to take over the planet, so really, how's this any different?" Bulma asked. "Have you forgotten all of that?"</em></p><p>
  <em>Yamcha blushed. His girlfriend had caught him, but still he wouldn't back down.</em>
</p><p>"<em>Yeah, but he STILL wants to kill Goku and STILL wants to destroy our planet, so technically you’re helping him accomplish that."</em></p><p>
  <em>Bulma sighed and rubbed her temples. "Why would he be helping us defeat the androids if he was just going to end up destroying the planet? I think he just says that to keep everyone else away from him. You know, at least when you were a bandit, you had Puar. I think he just needs a friend."</em>
</p><p>"<em>Then let Goku be his friend, B," Yamcha suggested. "I mean, they're both Saiyans."</em></p><p>"<em>Yeah, but what do they have in common," Bulma asked. "And besides, sure rivals can be friends, but that's how we were taught."</em></p><p>"<em>So what? And what do YOU have in common with that creep, anyway?"</em></p><p>"<em>I don't know," Bulma replied. "But I intend to find out."</em></p><p>"<em>I still think you're crazy," Yamcha admitted.</em></p><p>"<em>I probably am," Bulma said. "But tell me, who in our group of friends isn't crazy?"</em></p><p>
  <em>Yamcha sighed and muttered, "You have a point."</em>
</p><p>Vegeta didn't like the idea of anyone talking about him behind his back as if claiming to know him, but at least he knew the woman didn't mean any harm. She would have told the weakling if she was planning on something, especially since the pathetic "warrior" hated him so much.</p><p>Then he thought about Kakarot and how he was able to reach Super Saiyan before him, let alone how he managed to at all. He just couldn't figure it out. After coming to Capsule Corp., he listened to the recap of what happened from the third-class's son as he told the blue-haired woman and the bald man, whom had been wished back to life by that time, what had set him off. How could the death of another warrior set someone off so much? That's something Vegeta would never understand. He had seen so much death in his life that it was an everyday occurrence. Even he killed other fighters, so what was so important about this one.</p><p>Frustrated by his lack of understanding, he turned the GR all the way up and activated the training bots the woman had come up with. It angered him when he was hit by his own attack because he simply couldn't dodge it in enough time. His anger got the better of him and he released all his energy to fire a stronger blast at the one coming for him.</p><p>Bulma and Yamcha were sitting with Bunny eating some snacks when the entire compound shook.</p><p>"What the hell is going on?" Yamcha asked. Then they heard an explosion come from outside. It could only be one thing, the Gravity Room.</p><p>Bulma and Yamcha ran outside to see what happened when they saw the broken ship, a pile of rubble, and no Vegeta. Yamcha watched in amazement as his girlfriend got down on her knees and started digging to find the idiotic Saiyan.</p><p>Vegeta managed to pull himself from the rubble, freaking out Bulma at the same time.</p><p>"Are you okay?" Bulma asked with worry evident.</p><p>"Of course," he said standing up.</p><p>Bulma was relieved but then yelled at him for nearly destroying the house. That amused Vegeta and he started to laugh at her stupidity, when he fell over. Bulma rushed over to him to help him and when he said he didn't need help, she tried to explain to him that his way of training was going to get him killed.</p><p>"Just rest for once," she ordered.</p><p>"Don't think you can order me around," Vegeta growled. "I'm not done training."</p><p>Vegeta attempted to get up, but he passed out.</p><p>Bulma attempted to get up with him and get him to the med bay, but he was way too heavy for her. She turned to Yamcha.</p><p>"Well, are you just going to stand there while he lays here bleeding?" Bulma snapped.</p><p>Yamcha crossed his arms and pouted looking away from her. "Why should I help him? It's his own fault for destroying the damn thing."</p><p>Bulma frowned at him. "Yamcha, come on. You're a better person than that. Besides, we need his help when the androids come. Just help me get him to the med bay. Then you can leave and you won't have to help me with him again, okay?"</p><p>"Fine," Yamcha reluctantly agreed. He would have helped the Saiyan anyway, but he was feeling jealousy towards the prince. The way Bulma was looking at Vegeta when he was hurt was the same way she used to look at him after a lost fight. He was hoping his worries were in vain, but he couldn't help shake the feeling that there was more going on between the two. It was something he would have to look out for.</p><hr/><p>Krillin decided to take a walk after a long training session in the woods. First he flew into the city to get something to eat and then he decided a walk would clear his head.</p><p>He was freaking out about everything. Seeing as he had already died twice in his life, he wasn't really ecstatic to go and fight something that he already knew had killed him in another timeline. <em>Yup, I'm really going to need therapy one day, </em>he thought to himself as he passed a building aimlessly.</p><p>"Jay, come on. We're going to be late for class," he heard a girl say. For some strange reason, he stopped walking and looked over to two people close to his age arguing.</p><p>"Juu, you need to lighten up," the guy, whose name was Jay, said. "It's just computer programming. We aren't even going to do anything today. Let's just skip. I'm bored and want to go do something."</p><p>"You mean get into trouble like you always do," the girl muttered. "I swear, one day you're going to get us into a lot of trouble."</p><p>Krillin watched the two and the only thing he thought about at the moment was what the lavender-haired kid had said.</p><p>"<em>They're twins, a girl with long, blonde hair and a boy with long, black hair. They're not much older that you or Krillin."</em></p><p>"Oh my…" Krillin began to say under his breath. Eventually, the guy reluctantly agreed to go to class with his sister. Krillin decided to follow them to see if he can learn anything about them. Maybe he'd be able to figure out how they ended up becoming androids in the future.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A/N: I'm sure you already can tell the trouble that Jay is going to get them into. I love foreshadowing :3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bulma was incredibly bored. All of her friends were off training and Vegeta had been training nonstop again, so he never came to demand any repairs. Her other work was just child's play compared to the GR, so she was way ahead of schedule. Eventually, she settled for reading an engineering magazine. One of the inner articles was about Dr. Gero.</p><p><em>Wow, he seems really creepy, </em>Bulma thought to herself. Just thinking about the hidden scientist irritated her. She closed the magazine and went to get some fresh air.</p><p>When Bulma walked outside, she saw Vegeta sitting by the pond, just staring at the water. <em>What could he possibly be doing now?</em></p><p>"Hey, Vegeta," Bulma greeted. "What are you doing over here?" Vegeta looked up to glare at her and then looked back down into the water. He looked lost. "Are you okay?"</p><p>"It's none of your concern," Vegeta snapped. "Now, as I've said countless times before, leave me alone!"</p><p>"No," Bulma replied.</p><p>"No?" Vegeta growled.</p><p>"That's what I said," Bulma told him. "Look, I know you don't know anyone except for us on this planet. I know that you're not used to our customs of kindness, but here it is. I'm not going to leave you alone, Vegeta. You need a friend whether you believe you do or not."</p><p>"And you plan on filling that role?" Vegeta asked incredulously.</p><p>Bulma smiled. "Yes," she responded.</p><p>"No," Vegeta said before getting up to walk away.</p><p>"Vegeta?" Bulma called to him.</p><p>Vegeta stopped walking. "I do not want nor have any need for your friendship or for any friend, as you pathetic humans so quaintly say." He left Bulma alone outside.</p><hr/><p>Later Bulma came out of her lab after working on some new plans and went to the kitchen for dinner. She found Vegeta waiting for the microwave to finish cooking something, but her parents were nowhere to be seen.</p><p><em>They must have gone out, </em>Bulma thought to herself.</p><p>All of a sudden she felt heaviness in the air. When she looked up Vegeta was standing in front of her staring at her intensely.</p><p>"Um, yes?" Bulma asked.</p><p>"Is a date some type of political meeting?" Vegeta asked angrily, thinking that her parents were out planning something. It irritated him when Bulma started laughing. No one laughed at the Prince of all Saiyans.</p><p>Bulma saw his angry expression and tried to calm herself down. "No, silly. A date is when a couple go out and spend time with each other, like to a movie or out to dinner."</p><p>Vegeta nodded and then walked away with his food.</p><p>"Hey Vegeta?" He froze but didn't turn around to look at her. "Do you think you'll ever be able to trust us?"</p><p>"No," Vegeta answered honestly; but, for the first time, he wished that was a lie.</p><hr/><p>"Mr. and Miss Gojin, you're late…again," a professor stated as Jay and Juu got to their class.</p><p>"Forgive us, Professor Phan," Juu said.</p><p>"This is your last chance, you two," Professor Phan stated. "I want the two of you to come see me after class."</p><p>"Yes, ma'am," the twins said.</p><p>Krillin wasn't too far away. He watched the two androids-to-be and realized that before Gero got to them, they were normal college students and purely innocent. How did they get involved with the likes of Dr. Gero?</p><p>After class, Juu and Jay went to speak with their professor.</p><p>"Look, you are both very bright, but if you keep showing up late, I'm going to start taking points off,” Professor Phan told them. "Do you understand?"</p><p>They both solemnly nodded. For the first time, Jay actually felt bad for getting his sister into trouble.</p><p>"Professor Phan," Jay interrupted, "it was my fault we were late today. Don't punish Juu."</p><p>"Well, actually, I was going to tell you of a way I can overlook this," their teacher said. "I have a colleague who is doing research in robotics. He knows you two are my best students, so he wanted to know if you'd be interested in helping with his research."</p><p>"That sounds like an amazing opportunity," Juu said.</p><p>"Yeah, we'll think about it," Jay replied.</p><p>"Of course," Professor Phan said. "He wanted to meet you first before you got involved in the research. I can set up and appointment in my office sometime this week."</p><p>"That sounds great," the twins responded simultaneously.</p><p>Overhearing the conversation, Krillin hoped that this wasn't how they got involved. If it was, then the two of them had no idea what they were getting into. They were turned into vicious killing machines thinking they were just helping a scientist with his research. He couldn't let that happen, but he couldn't go in on this alone. There was only one person who would both want to and be able to help him. <em>Bulma.</em></p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Hey Bulma," Yamcha greeted.</p><p>"Oh, hey Yami," Bulma cooed and her boyfriend gave her a dirty look. She laughed. "Oh, lighten up," she teased. "What's up?"</p><p>"I wanted to see if you were interested in checking out the new club with me tonight, you know, if you're not too busy."</p><p>"Um, I can't," Bulma said, "but we can stay in and watch some movies. It's just that my parents are going out and seeing as kids will be coming for candy, well, with Vegeta being the way he is around people, I thought I should stay."</p><p>Yamcha smiled. "That's okay, Bulma," he said. "I'll stay for a movie. But then I'll probably head home. I've got an early day tomorrow."</p><p>Bulma smiled and went to go pick out a good horror movie. When she left the room, though, her smiled disappeared. Something about what just happened felt off to her.</p><hr/><p>Vegeta growled when he heard the doorbell for the twentieth time in the last hour. What the hell was going on and why didn't the woman just answer the damn door? He went downstairs to go give her a piece of his mind when he saw a bunch of short humans dressed as monsters, aliens, princesses, soldiers, and so many other things. Then the woman gave them candy foods that she had tried to get him to eat before. The kids thanked her and ran off to the next house.</p><p>"Woman, what is the meaning of this?" Vegeta growled.</p><p>"Oh, hey Vegeta," Bulma said. "It's Halloween."</p><p>"Hallow-what?"</p><p>"Halloween," Bulma answered. "It's a holiday where people dress up in costumes and go from door to door and get candy. It's a lot of fun."</p><p>"Don't they know that could be dangerous?" Vegeta asked although he really didn't care. All he was thinking was that if anything like that were to have occurred on Frieza's ship, many would have been killed.</p><p>"Of course," Bulma replied. "That's why they have their parents with them or go in groups. I'll never forget Goku's first Halloween. All I have to say is never give a young Saiyan that much candy or he'll be bouncing off the walls all night." Bulma chuckled at the memory while Vegeta rolled his eyes. The stupidity of humans knew no bounds and, unfortunately, the only other full-blooded Saiyan was one of them.</p><p>The doorbell rang again and Bulma answered the door.</p><p>"Hey, Bulma," Goku greeted.</p><p>"Oh boy," Bulma muttered. "Goku, I'm not giving you candy."</p><p>Goku laughed jovially. "Not for me today, Bulma, but Gohan might want some."</p><p>"Hi Aunt Bulma," Gohan greeted from his father's side.</p><p>"Hey, kid," Bulma chimed. "Hey, is that the armor you wore on Namek?"</p><p>"Mm-hm," Gohan replied. "I thought it would be cool to wear it again, you know, without mom freaking out about everything again."</p><p>Bulma laughed. Vegeta watch the scene in disgust. How dare the brat dishonor his Saiyan heritage like that? And how dare they all ignore him?</p><p>"Oh, hey Vegeta," Goku waved. Well, almost. Vegeta rolled his eyes and started to leave the room, but Gohan's words stopped him.</p><p>Bulma had asked him why he wanted to wear the armor again in the first place.</p><p>"Well, it's a reminder that I'm a Saiyan and got to fight with everyone on Namek. Mom just wants me to study and put all fighting aside."</p><p>"I'm sure your dad won't let that happen if you really want to fight more," Bulma told him. "Fighting's in your blood, you know. Your mom will get over it eventually." Bulma gave him a few pieces of candy.</p><p>Gohan hugged her. "Thanks Aunt Bulma," he said. "You're the best."</p><p>"You too, kid. And do me a favor. Don't eat all that candy tonight and don't let your father anywhere near it."</p><p>"Aw, Bulma, no fair," Goku playfully whined.</p><p>Bulma smiled over to him. "You know Chi Chi would kill me if I didn't give that warning. But I have so my conscious is clear."</p><p>Goku picked up on her hidden meaning. "Thanks, B. See you soon. Take care, Vegeta." With that the two Sons were gone.</p><p>"Well, that was a nice visit, even though it was short, don't you think?" Bulma asked Vegeta.</p><p>Vegeta scoffed and said, "This 'holiday' is a waste of time."</p><p>"Maybe," Bulma replied with a smile, "but it's a heck of a lot of fun. Hey, do you want to watch a scary movie with me. Yamcha left, but I still want to watch another movie."</p><p>"Hn, I wouldn't watch that pathetic garbage even if Frieza had forced me to. That crap is totally fake."</p><p>"So what?" Bulma asked. "It's just for fun. Come on, what do you have to lose?"</p><p>"Training time and my sanity," Vegeta stated.</p><p>"Well, you've already lost the latter," Bulma teased earning her a glare from Vegeta. "As for the first, you just came out of the GR today after being in there for the last three days. You promised you'd take it easy."</p><p>"Hn, I promised no such thing."</p><p>"I said you needed to relax," Bulma said.</p><p>"Yes, I didn't say anything, so I never made a promise, woman."</p><p>"Vegeta, please just rest. Just for tonight. Then you can go back to training as long as you want and I'll bring your meals out to you until you come out. Just please take a break before you kill yourself and all that training becomes a waste."</p><p>"That will never happen," Vegeta growled. "Now get out of my way." He pushed passed her and went out to the GR to relieve some of his anger, tension, and stress. Why did the woman constantly worry about him? He didn't want it. He wanted to be left alone to train and fight. That had been his life. No one had ever acted this way towards him and he wasn't sure he was comfortable with it. What sickened him was that part of him wanted someone to care about him, and yet at the same time, whenever she acted that way towards him, he felt physically ill and dizzy. If this was what it felt like to have someone care about you, then he wanted no part of it. It was easier to live life the way he knew. Why should he change just because he was on a more peaceful planet? With the gravity cranked up to 450 G's, Vegeta began to work on relieving his anxiety.</p><hr/><p>"Come on, Juu," Jay said. "We're going to be late for the party."</p><p>"Hey, you made me late for class. You can be late for a party."</p><p>"Oh, will you get over it? Once we help this scientist, we'll pretty much have a free pass with Professor Phan."</p><p>"I don't know about this, Jay," Juu admitted. "For some reason I feel weird about it."</p><p>"Don't worry, sis. We'll meet with the guy and see if it's something we're interested in. If not, we'll just figure out something else to do to make up for the tardies."</p><p>"I guess you're right," Juu replied.</p><p>"Of course I am, sis. Now let's go to the party."</p><hr/><p>Krillin followed the two to a Halloween party. Yeah, he kind of felt like a stalker, but he was actually worried for the twins’ safety. After seeing how innocent they were, Krillin knew he would never be able to fight them when the time came.</p><p>"Oh, hey," Juu said breaking Krillin out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry, I just bumped into you."</p><p>Krillin looked up at her blushing. "Oh, um, it's fine miss…"</p><p>"Juu, you can call me Juu," she said.</p><p>"Um, okay?"</p><p>"Anyway, who are you? I haven't seen you around school before."</p><p>"Um, I don't go to the school," Krillin admitted.</p><p>"Oh, I guess you're the type of guest that came on hearsay?"</p><p>"Um, sure?" Krillin asked, not really understanding the whole college party thing since he never went to college.</p><p>"Anyway, since you're here, wanna dance?" Juu asked.</p><p>"I uh-"</p><p>"Juu, what are you doing with the short, bald guy?" Jay asked.</p><p>Krillin blushed and looked down a little.</p><p>"As opposed to the medium height guy who looks like a girl because he refuses to cut his hair," Juu stated dryly.</p><p>Jay rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll never get your taste in guys. Women."</p><p>Juu looked back over to Krillin. "Sorry about that. My brother is a good guy and all, but somewhat of a trouble maker. In all honestly, despite his grades, he's the biggest idiot I know."</p><p>Krillin didn't know what to say, so he just held out his hand for Juu, to pick up where they left off before Jay had interrupted them. No, when the time came, Krillin would never be able to hurt either of them. He would just have to make sure that it didn't happen. Somehow, with Bulma's help, he would find a way.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, who wants invisible, non-existent pie? XD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bulma was confused. Anything about everything had been off to her recently. She didn't really understand why, but she didn't like it. A few days ago, it had been Halloween and Yamcha hadn't been acting like himself. First he asked her out; then he was ready to leave when she denied his invitation. She hadn't meant to blow off all of his invites lately, but between meetings, her mother taking her shopping, fixing the GR, plus the wonders of Halloween night, she just hadn't been able to make time for him.</p><p>Bulma decided she would take the initiative this time. She took out her cell and dialed Yamcha's number. Her stomach dropped at the voice she was met with.</p><p>"Yamcha, sweetie, who's Bulma?" a woman's voice asked after seeing the caller I.D.</p><p>"Oh crap," she heard Yamcha say. Yamcha quickly got on to the phone. "Bulma, I swear it's not-"</p><p>But Bulma had already hung up the phone, not wanting to listen to his excuses. This was the tenth time he cheated on her, and it would also be the last.</p><hr/><p>Still fuming from the incident this morning, Bulma went down to her lab to work on some of her latest projects that didn't involve the GR for once.</p><p>"Hey, Bulma?" she heard Krillin's voice.</p><p>"Krillin? Hey, what's up?" Bulma greeted with a smile.</p><p>"I need to talk to you."</p><p>Bulma frowned. "If it's about that good-for-nothing creep Yamcha-"</p><p>"What? No, it's not about Yamcha, but after you have to tell me what happened with that," Krillin replied. "No, it's about the androids; well, it's about the people who might become the androids."</p><p>Bulma raised an eyebrow at her friend. "What are you talking about, Krillin?" she asked.</p><p>"I'm saying that I know who they are," he told her. "I met them."</p><p>"YOU WHAT?" Bulma shouted.</p><p>Krillin told her everything about when he first saw them to the party a few nights ago.</p><p>"They have an appointment to go talk with their teacher's friend today," Krillin explained.</p><p>"Hold on a second," Bulma said leaving the lab to go get the magazine where she had seen a picture of Dr. Gero. She showed it to Krillin. "This is Dr. Gero," she told him. "If the guy they are talking to looks like him then maybe we can convince them not to get involved."</p><p>"This is great. Thanks Bulma. Now I'm going to head over to the university, but I'll be back and then you're going to tell me what happened with Yamcha."</p><p>Bulma agreed but after Krillin left she started making plans on where to go to so that she wouldn't be here when he got back.</p><hr/><p>"I've seen both of your credentials and they are very impressive," an elderly man said.</p><p>"Thank you, sir," the twins said.</p><p>"So, no parents huh?" he asked. The twins frowned and shook their head. "That's too bad. I'm sure they would have been proud. Any other family?"</p><p>"No sir," Juu said. "It's just my brother and me."</p><p><em>Excellent, </em>the man thought. <em>That means no one will come looking for them.</em></p><p>"Well, I think you two would be excellent candidates," he told them. "We can start next week. I'll pick you both up from the back. Sound good."</p><p>"Sounds great," Jay said enthusiastically.</p><p>The man smirked evilly, but the twins were already leaving and didn't notice. Krillin, who was outside the room, did notice and shivered when he realized that he was indeed Dr. Gero.</p><p>"Okay, well I'm gonna go get some work done," Jay told Juu.</p><p>"You mean you're going to go to the library and pick up girls again," Juu teased.</p><p>"Oh be quiet," he laughed. "I'll see you at home, sis."</p><p>Juu turned around and saw Krillin standing in front of her. She smiled and said, "Hey, it's you."</p><p>"Juu," Krillin started seriously causing her face to light up in confusion. "Look, you can't work for that guy."</p><p>"I'm sorry?" she questioned.</p><p>"I can't explain it to you now, but all I can say is that guy is bad news."</p><p>Juu glared at Krillin and said, "Have you been following me? And I thought you were different then all of the other trash at this school."</p><p>"Listen to me!" Krillin shouted effectively shutting Juu up. "That guy's name is Dr. Gero. He was a scientist for the Red Ribbon Army my friend took down. I really can't tell you any more than that, but I don't think you and your brother shouldn’t work with him on anything. It could get you both into a lot of trouble."</p><p>Juu stared blankly at the man in front of her. This was obviously very important to him and he didn't seem to be lying. Maybe she and her brother should avoid this, but she would have to talk to Jay first.</p><p>"I'm not making any promises," Juu replied. "But if my brother still wants to do it, then I'm going with him."</p><p>She walked away and Krillin wondered if this was the last time he'd see her as a human.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Juu waited anxiously from her brother to return home from his, um, endeavors.  She kept thinking about what Krillin told her.  Sure, someone would say the guy was just some crazy stalker, but something about the way he looked at her made her believe that he was telling the truth, and she could usually tell.  What could this Dr. Gero want to use two college students for, and wouldn’t he be wary about who was working for him?  Juu would need more information from Krillin.  She just hoped she’d see him again.</p><p>“Hey, sis,” Jay called.  “I’m back.”</p><p>“We need to talk, bro,” Juu said.</p><p>“Uh oh, what did I do now?” Jay asked.</p><p>“You didn’t do anything,” Juu said.  “Just listen.”</p><p>Juu told him everything that happened after they parted ways.</p><p>“So the bald guy is a freak stalking my sister,” Jay so wrongly observed.  “I can take care of him.”</p><p>“No!” Juu exclaimed.  “Did you not understand the part where I said I believe him?”</p><p>“No, I didn’t understand that part, because it’s stupid,” Jay said.  “You can do whatever you want, but I’m going.”</p><p>Juu looked away and thought about it some more.  She did say that if Jay still wanted to go, that she would join him, but something felt very, very wrong and Juu feared for their lives.  Just who was this doctor and what did he want from the two of them?</p><hr/><p>The next day, Krillin debated on whether or not he should go talk to Juu again, or maybe Jay too.  He had to make sure that Dr. Gero didn’t take their lives away from them.</p><p>“Hey you!” Jay called over angrily to Krillin.</p><p>Krillin backed up holding his hands up.  “Whoa, there.  Calm down.”</p><p>“Calm down? CALM DOWN?” Jay shouted in anger.  “How dare you tell my sister some convoluted story about something that could actually help our career?”</p><p>“Look, you don’t understand,” Krillin said.  “You guys are in danger.  As for your careers, are you going for engineering?  If so, I have a friend who can help you.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah?  Who?” Jay asked incredulously.</p><p>Krillin didn’t really want to throw Bulma’s name out, but her family was well known and, if it stopped Jay and Juu from being turned into machines, he didn’t think she’d mind.</p><p>“Bulma Briefs,” he answered the angry man standing in front him.</p><p>Jay’s face became blank before becoming serious again.  “Yeah, right.  The Capsule Corp heiress?  How would you know her?”</p><p>“I grew up with her,” Krillin responded.  “I’ll talk to her to set something up.  Just please don’t go with this guy.”</p><p>Jay sighed.  Like his sister, he could tell when someone was telling the truth.  This guy was too innocent to be lying.  “Look, I’ll send my sister to meet your friend.  I, on the other hand, will go see what this guy’s research is.”</p><p>“What?  No, you can’t!” Krillin exclaimed.</p><p>Jay chuckled.  “Don’t worry.  If my sister is with you and Dr. Gero knows that she knows I’m there, he won’t try anything because someone will go after him.”</p><p>“Hm, you make a good point,” Krillin stated.  “Okay, let’s do that.”</p><p>“I’ll let my sister know,” Jay said.  “In the meantime, stop freaking stalking us.”  Krillin blushed but Jay just burst out laughing.  “Oh man, you should see the look on your face right now.”  Krillin started laughing nervously.  “Okay, this is our number,” Jay told him handing Krillin a piece of paper.  “Just let us know when and where; but I swear, if you do anything to trick us or hurt my sister, there will be no place on this planet where you would be safe.”</p><p>Krillin smirked in confidence.  “Not a problem.  Just be careful, okay?”</p><hr/><p>“Woman, I demand your presence!” Vegeta exclaimed.</p><p>Bulma came downstairs rubbing her head.  She had just had a very rude awakening.</p><p>“What?” she snapped.</p><p>“Something is wrong with the GR,” Vegeta told her.  “It won’t turn on.”</p><p>Bulma grinned and looked up at Vegeta as if she had won a battle.</p><p>“I shut it down for the day,” she replied.  Bulma thought it would be better for Vegeta to take a break.  He always trained so hard and, after observing him the previous night, she could tell that his training was taking more of a toll on his body than he let on.  Plus she had just finished working on the plans for another upgrade.  It gave her an excuse to shut it down for the day.</p><p>“What?  How dare you?” he shouted.  Before Bulma could answer, he had her pinned to the wall and was grasping her wrists.  His face displayed nothing but pure rage and that frightened her.</p><p>“Vegeta,” Bulma pleaded.  “Let go.”</p><p>“You messed with the wrong Saiyan,” he said darkly.  “You interfered with my training and you must now pay.”  To Bulma, he didn’t look like the Vegeta she had come to know.</p><p>“Excuse me?” Bulma asked in confusion.  “Vegeta, it’s me, Bulma.  What are you talking about?”</p><p>Vegeta’s face slightly relaxed when he heard her name.  “Bulma?”  He let go of her wrists and backed away from her.</p><p>“Vegeta, what just happened?”</p><p>Vegeta didn’t know what to say.  A few days ago, he had seen her in a new light and held a great deal of respect for her.  The woman gave the boy advice and accepted his Saiyan nature and pride, even though she knew that the Saiyans had purged planets and worked for Frieza.  She confused him and the feelings he had for her confused him as well.  He didn’t know what they were, but he knew they made him feel different.</p><p>And now, he didn’t know what to do because he just scared the woman he was trying to figure out his feelings for.  Why did he snap like that?  He didn’t remember losing it, and he wasn’t even that angry at her.  Usually when she shut the GR down it was to upgrade it, so how could he be mad?  It was then he realized, he had been caught up in the past reliving an old memory.  He would never tell her that, though. It wasn’t any of her business.</p><p>“It was nothing,” Vegeta said.  “Just finish your damn upgrades so I can get back to my training.”</p><p>He was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder.  When he looked down at her, he definitely did see fear and worry, but not because she was afraid of him.</p><p>“Vegeta, talk to me,” she gently ordered.</p><p>“Leave me alone,” he whispered before heading to his room.</p><p>Bulma watched as he walked away.  She would have followed him and demanded he tell her, but there was a knock on the door so she had to back down.</p><p>“Yeah?” she greeted.</p><p>“Hey Bulma,” Krillin greeted back.</p><p>“Oh, Krillin, how did it go?” Bulma asked.</p><p>“Well, she talked to her brother, but he still wants to go just to see what he wanted to use them for.  He was pretty pissed that I was trying to interfere with their careers.  They’re involved with engineering so I offered up your name and he said he’d be willing to let his sister meet with you while he checks out Dr. Gero’s lab.  So what do you think?”</p><p>Bulma smiled.  “I think it’s perfect.  Dad said we were in need of new employees anyway.  Something about Vegeta scaring off some of them.  Anyway, I’d love to meet with her.  Now, let’s get something set up.”</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vegeta hadn't come out of his room for days after the incident. Bulma was growing very worried about her Saiyan houseguest. She realized that his excessive training, his sporadic feeding, and him locking himself away from everyone were all signs of depression and she wanted to help him. It had dawned on her a while ago that she cared about him which was why she was always trying to break through to him.</p><p>Bulma had to get ready for her meeting with Juu later that day, but first things were first. She needed to talk to Vegeta and tell him that she forgave him for whatever the hell happened days before.</p><p>When she knocked on the door, there was no answer so Bulma, being the stubborn girl she was, entered his room. She found Vegeta lying on bed staring up at the ceiling.</p><p>"I did not give you permission to enter," he told her without looking away from the spot on the ceiling.</p><p>"Vegeta, I'm not mad at you for what happened," Bulma said getting straight to the point. She didn't like seeing him like this. He was always so prideful and arrogant. Depressed and guilty did not suit him well.</p><p>"I don't care," he replied. "Now leave."</p><p>"No," Bulma said. "No, I won't leave you brooding up here. You haven't eaten in days-"</p><p>"I've gone months without food before," he admitted.</p><p>"Vegeta, I'm worried about you," Bulma explained. "This isn't healthy."</p><p>"Hn. What does it matter? As long as I train and get stronger and defeat those machines, why do you care? I've been on my own my whole life. I can take care of myself."</p><p>Vegeta didn't need to look at Bulma to know that she was crying and he sighed in irritation. Humans were weird. Why did they care so much? About someone who had threatened their lives on more than one account?</p><p>"It matters," she stated answering his question. "You matter; well, at least you do to us. Just because you can take care of yourself, doesn't mean you have to do it alone anymore."</p><p>"You asked me a question a while ago," Vegeta responded, "and now I pose the same question. Do you think you'll ever be able to trust me?" He was sure her answer would be "no" after what he had done to her.</p><p>"Yes," Bulma replied shocking Vegeta. He sat up and looked into her eyes to see if he could detect a lie. He couldn't.</p><p>His mind raced with thoughts like, <em>How is that possible? I hurt her. How could she trust someone like me who had killed so many others in my lifetime, including her friends? What more do I have to do to make it clear that I can't be trusted? But for the first time in my life, someone trusts me. I don't understand it. But this feeling…do I actually want her to trust me? Ridiculous</em>.</p><p>She broke him out of his thoughts when she put her hand to his cheek. "Now I'll ask you the same question. Do you trust me, Vegeta?"</p><p>Vegeta looked into her eyes and could feel what she wanted and needed to hear and what bothered him was that he could honestly give her that answer. He didn't want to appear weak; he wanted to lie, but he couldn't do that to her. He couldn't be the cause of anymore of her pain like he had been a few days prior. But most importantly, Vegeta didn't want to be alone again. Call him crazy, but he was actually starting to enjoy the woman prying her way into his life. She was persistent, but that persistence could only go so far and Vegeta wasn't sure that he was ready for her to give up on him when he had already given up on himself.</p><p>"Yes, woman," he finally said, "I trust you."</p><p>He didn't know if he made a mistake in telling her that, but her smile seemed to win him over and he just didn't care. So what if he just admitted one weakness to her, someone he did truly trust. In his mind, he would still be the same bastard he always was, but he couldn't even see that he was starting to change. What shocked him out of his thoughts again was Bulma placing a quick kiss on his cheek and leaving to go get ready for a meeting. Vegeta's hand was raised to his cheek as he wondered what the meaning of that gesture was.</p><hr/><p>"I can't believe this meeting wasn't a sham," Juu said to Bulma when they met up at the restaurant Krillin told her to go to.</p><p>Bulma giggled slightly. "Yeah, well, you wouldn't expect us to run in the same circles I guess, but I met Krillin and our friend, Goku, when we were younger. Anyway, as Krillin told you, this is kind of a serious matter, but I know you wanted to get involved with someone's research to further your career, so I'll get straight to the point. My dad and I need some more workers at Capsule Corp. Things have gotten a little more hectic in the last few months and my dad is getting older and can't do as much as he used to. I've already discussed it with him and we are willing to offer you and your brother jobs. We understand you still have schoolwork to take care of, but you can bring all that stuff with you and work on that as long as you get your job done. What do you think?"</p><p>Juu stared at Bulma blankly. Obviously these people wanted her and her brother away from Dr. Gero, but why? It had nothing to do with them if she and her brother got in trouble for working with a criminal, or was it?</p><p>"I think it sounds too good to be true," Juu replied. "But I'm willing to talk to Jay about it if you answer one question. I want an honest answer."</p><p>"You want to know why we're doing this, don't you?" Bulma sighed.</p><p>"Wouldn't you?" Juu asked. "If you had been stalked by a guy you met at a party, who then told you doing research with a professor's colleague would be dangerous, and then being offered a job by the heiress of the most well-known company on the planet, wouldn't you be skeptical?"</p><p>"Well, when you put it that way," Bulma laughed. "Alright, but promise me you won't freak out."</p><p>Juu nodded and Bulma told her the reason they got involved. Juu went completely pale after hearing her story. The next thing anyone knew, Juu fainted.</p><hr/><p>"So your sister couldn't join us, huh?" Dr. Gero asked Jay.</p><p>"Nah, she had a last minute meeting," Jay said truthfully. "That girl is always busy."</p><p>"I see, well, you'll just have to give her all the details," Dr. Gero replied. Jay couldn't help but detect a hint of disappointment and anger in his voice. He had definitely wanted them both here.</p><p>After the tour of Dr. Gero's lab, Jay requested some extra time to look around. Dr. Gero nodded and went to his office to get some paperwork done.</p><p>Jay accidently stumbled across a secret tunnel while looking around and he decided to follow it. He ended up in some kind of underground lab and was disturbed by the sight. There were a few people unconscious on the table, but they had mechanical parts incorporated into their body.</p><p>"What the hell?" Jay asked. He backed away and stumbled into a table. He look behind him and saw many papers telling a detailed description of what happened to those people, now androids. Then something hit him.</p><p>
  <em>"So, no parents huh?" he asked. The twins frowned and shook their head. "That's too bad. I'm sure they would have been proud. Any other family?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No sir," Juu said. "It's just my brother and me."</em>
</p><p>Jay quickly went back through the tunnel to the main lab. He calmly went to Dr. Gero's office and told him he was ready to go. He kept his cool the entire ride back to the campus, but when Dr. Gero dropped him off and left, Jay had to sit down to steady himself. Dr. Gero had been planning to turn them into androids, and had Juu gone with him that day he would have because no one would have ever come looking for them. Perhaps that guy knew and that was why he wanted to help them. All Jay knew was that they couldn't go back there, except with the proper authorities, but who would ever believe a crazy story like this?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Woman, what is the meaning of this?" Vegeta asked angrily.</p><p>"I can explain," she replied. But how was she going to explain this scene?</p><p>Juu was lying in the bed of the medical wing of Capsule Corp.  Krillin and Jay were sitting at her bedside. They were both really worried. And of course it didn't get past Vegeta's noticed that they matched the description of the androids.</p><p>"How?" Vegeta growled alarming Krillin who looked upon Bulma with concern.</p><p>Bulma waved Krillin off and turned to Vegeta. "Let's talk outside."</p><hr/><p>"So talk," Vegeta ordered.</p><p>Bulma sighed but complied. "Krillin ran into them," she explained. "He followed them around for a while and found out they were completely oblivious to who Dr. Gero was. They're college students studying engineering like I did. They were completely innocent, Vegeta."</p><p>"I don't care!" he snapped. "We told you not to interfere, to let Gero create the androids so we can fight!"</p><p>"He's still creating androids!" Bulma snapped back. "You would know if you had let me finish! Today I was with Juu, and her brother went to check out Dr. Gero's lab. Dr. Gero is already creating androids, stealing other innocent humans' lives, so most likely you'll still get your fight."</p><p>"The boy from the future didn't say anything about other androids," Vegeta challenged.</p><p>"He was killed by those two," Bulma retorted pointing back to the house.  "He didn't have the chance to activate any others."</p><p>Vegeta didn't have an argument for that. She made a valid point.</p><p>"Tell me something, Vegeta," Bulma said after they stood in silence for a few minutes. Vegeta glared over at her, waiting for her to continue. Bulma closed her eyes and took a large breath before looking back over at him. "What if it were me?" Vegeta's glare softened. "What if Dr. Gero had wanted to meet with me and then turn me into an android? Could you honestly say you'd be able to fight?" Vegeta clenched his fists in anger and looked away. He knew that he wouldn't be able to and now she knew that as well. "Then think about how Krillin feels. He likes that girl. I can tell. Dr. Gero went after them because he thought they had no one. They're orphans, Vegeta."</p><p>Vegeta's expression faltered when he heard that word as he remembered being taunted by Freiza's second, Zarbon, about being an orphan. And now he was given someone who cared about and trusted him. He knew he had to trust her. Right now she was the only thing in his life that made sense on some occasion. And now she and the bald guy were giving those to humans the same chance.</p><p>Vegeta looked away from Bulma in fear she might see past his calmness.</p><p>"Why is she unconscious?" he asked more from curiosity than concern.</p><p>"She wanted to know why Krillin was stalking them and why I was willing to offer them both jobs to keep them from working for Gero. She didn't take the news well and fainted." Bulma turned to leave. "I have to get back to them now," she said leaving Vegeta alone outside in the dark.</p><hr/><p>"Hey," Bulma greeted.</p><p>"Hi, Bulma," Krillin replied still staring at Juu.</p><p>"It's going to be okay you two," Bulma told them. "She just fainted from shock."</p><p>"We know," Jay said. "I can't believe any of this. I mean why us? And those others, did they have families? Were they just trying to get involved for the reasons we were?"</p><p>"I don't know," Krillin admitted, "but we'll find out. Maybe we should ask that teacher of yours what she knows about this guy's research. She may know more than she's letting on."</p><p>"We'll help in any way that we can," Jay offered.</p><p>"We might just take you up on that," Bulma responded. Bulma hoped, with Juu and Jay being on their side now, that none of her friends would have to die.</p><hr/><p>Vegeta went to the gravity room to train some more and think about what had just happened. He was feeling things he hadn't felt before and he didn't understand them which infuriated him further. He then remembered a conversation he had with Nappa and Raditz when he became a teenager.</p><p>"<em>You've finally gotten through the 'kid years,'" Raditz teased.</em></p><p>"<em>Shut the hell up, Raditz," Vegeta growled. "You're only one year older than I am."</em></p><p>"<em>Now, now," Nappa said calming the two teenagers down. "We should count ourselves lucky to be able to celebrate this day. Frieza's off ship and we finished our purge three days early. To Prince Vegeta."</em></p><p>"<em>Hn." That was Vegeta for "thanks."</em></p><p>"<em>And now that you've become a teenager, it's time to have the talk," Nappa continued.</em></p><p>
  <em>Vegeta's face paled but it went unnoticed by Nappa and Raditz. Raditz carried on with his jokes while Nappa continued on with the lecture. Vegeta had spent enough time with Frieza to know enough about the topic, so he didn't need Nappa explaining something he already dealt with personally.</em>
</p><p>"<em>Anyway, Vegeta," Nappa said seriously, "one day we'll be out of here and you'll be free to do whatever you want. Hey, you might even find someone to settle down with."</em></p><p>"<em>Tch, like that would ever happen," Raditz teased. "Our prince here wouldn't let a woman hold him down."</em></p><p>
  <em>Vegeta was growing irritated with this conversation and was about to voice his disdain before Nappa interrupted him.</em>
</p><p>"<em>It doesn't have to be that way, boy." Raditz's face went red after being scolded like a child. Nappa then turned to Vegeta. "Whatever woman you end up with, if you choose one, should respect you for who you are and not try to hold you down. She must be both your greatest weakness and you greatest asset. You'll know her when the time comes, Vegeta. You just have to keep an open mind."</em></p><p>"My greatest weakness, yet my greatest asset," Vegeta muttered remembering Nappa's words. "Someone who will respect me for who I am and would not try to hold me down." It was then he knew he was describing Bulma.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A/N: Yay, I wrote a memory scene that I actually liked XD I always thought I would screw something up when it came to flashbacks for certain characters. I hope it wasn't too OOC. I mean, who knows what they were like back then. Anyway, I hope you liked it as much as I did. Thanks for reading :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.</p><p>Warning: Scientifically inaccurate…I don't know robotics and engineering so I'm making stuff up. I'm sure you guys won't mind unless you're engineers or design robots. If there are any engineers out there, please tell me if this can even be close to plausible. You'll see what I mean XD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dr. Gero was angry, very angry. He had the perfect pair for his next experiment. Most of the androids hadn't turned out as he had hoped, but those two would have been perfect. Not only were they intelligent and strong, but they were both black belts and, even more importantly, had no connections with anyone. They would not be missed, not even by their professors who complained about their know-it-all behaviors and constant tardiness. Now they had slipped his grasp. And how had this happened?</p><p>They had run into the best friend of his archenemy, the man he wanted them to destroy, and had been offered better jobs by the Capsule Corp. heiress. The girl had grown closer to the witch and the bald, young man while the boy had become a highly treasured worker in the doctor's eyes.</p><p>Rage started to build up in Dr. Gero as he thought about how close he had come, but he had to look towards the future. He would never fully give up on his targets, but he had to continue his research to destroy the Saiyan that had ruined him years before. And who knew? Maybe they would fall into his grasp once again in the future, but until that day, he needed another specimen. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't seem to shake the desire to use the twins. He had to do something about that.</p><hr/><p>"Miss Briefs?" Jay called into her lab.</p><p>"What have I told you about that?" Bulma teased. "First name basis. Anyway, what's up?"</p><p>Jay looked irritated and rolled his eyes. "The mighty 'Prince of all Saiyans' destroyed all the bots…again."</p><p>Bulma smacked her face lightly with her palm and shook her head. "And those bots only lasted three days. I swear, he's going to end up blowing the GR up again too if given the chance."</p><p>"Might I make a suggestion?" Jay asked.</p><p>"Sure, that's what we hired you guys for. What do you have in mind?"</p><p>"Instead of using reinforced steel mixed with titanium, why note combine it with the alloy you were able to recreated from his armor?"</p><p>Bulma blinked at the boy for a minute in shock. How had she not thought of that? Vegeta's armor was tough, durable, even his blasts didn't destroy it until the armor had weakened. If they used that alloy to help keep the training bots more durable, than it would take Vegeta at least a few weeks before he broke every single one.</p><p>"Jay, that is the best idea I have heard all day," Bulma praised. "Mind helping me work on the plans?"</p><p>"Not at all," Jay replied. The two of them got started with the plans and by lunch time, they had already started working on the prototype.</p><hr/><p>"So what movie are we watching?" Krillin asked.</p><p>Juu shrugged and looked at the DVD case. "It's an action movie, but I think it's also a romance. I don't even know. My friend recommended it."</p><p>"Fine with me," Krillin stated. "Where do you keep the popcorn?"</p><p>"Third cabinet from the left," she answered.</p><p>"Got it."</p><p>Juu got the movie set up in the DVD player and dimmed the lights while Krillin got the popcorn and drinks. The two of them curled up on the couch to watch the movie and couldn't help but laugh at how dry the movie was.</p><p>"Your friend recommended this?" Krillin teased.</p><p>"Now that I think about it, she must have been being sarcastic. It's so hard to tell with her."</p><p>They laughed until they heard someone banging on the door aggressively. Juu looked over to the door, confused as to who would be banging on her door like that in the middle of the day. She moved to go answer it, but Krillin held her back.</p><p>"It's Gero," he whispered to her. Juu's eyes widened in fear as she looked back over to the door. "Come on, let's go."</p><p>They went up to Juu's room when they heard the sound of the door being broken down. Juu froze and Krillin got into fighting mode. He would not let Dr. Gero get anywhere near Juu. He had made both her and Jay a promise.</p><p>"<em>I don't care about what happens to me," Jay told him, "but make sure nothing ever happens to Juu. She is the only family I have left and I couldn't bear something like that happening to her."</em></p><p>"<em>Don't worry, Jay," Krillin assured. "I won't let anything happen to your sister. Promise."</em></p><p>When they heard footsteps on the staircase, Juu panicked and grabbed Krillin into her closet. They heard her bedroom door open and stared through a space under the door. Dr. Gero's shadow appeared in the crack, but disappeared just as quickly. The two heard a few more bangs coming from downstairs before they heard nothing else.</p><p>Krillin left the safety of the closet to search for Gero and measure the extent of the damage. He relaxed when he no longer felt Gero's energy nearby. They were safe, for the moment.</p><p>Krillin turned to Juu and said, "Call Bulma. Let her know what happened. I think it would be best if we got you and your brother out of here tonight."</p><p>Juu nodded. This was all really too much for her and all she could wonder was how she got dragged into this mess to begin with.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters. Also, who else is annoyed we have to write these for every chapter XD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Vegeta? Are you alright?" Bulma asked when she walked into the dark kitchen. She turned on the light and saw Vegeta sitting at the table with his hands to his head.</p><p>"Go away," he told her, although his voice lacked his normal venomous tone.</p><p>"Vegeta, what's wrong?" she asked again. "You can talk to me. It's okay."</p><p>"No, I can't," Vegeta admitted. "You wouldn't understand."</p><p>"I could understand if you just explained in to me," Bulma replied.</p><p>Vegeta looked over to her and she was taken aback. He looked like hell. There were bags under his eyes and they looked hopeless. Bulma had never seen the arrogant man like this before and she wasn't sure she liked it. She walked over to him and started rubbing his back.</p><p>"You look like you've been through the war," Bulma gently teased, although the concern was evident in her voice. "You need to learn how to relax. This excessive training isn't good for you."</p><p>Vegeta didn't look at her. He didn't want her to know that it wasn't from training. He had been having recurring nightmares lately and it wasn't getting any better. He just wanted it to stop, but every time he closed his eyes his memories would consume him and the only solace he had was in training. However, he was overly exhausted and didn't have the energy for his usual prolonged training.</p><p>"It is better for my sanity," Vegeta slipped out. Bulma's hands froze on his back.</p><p>"What do you mean by that, Vegeta?" she questioned.</p><p>He leaned his head against her. "Let it go, woman. It doesn't matter."</p><p>He was slightly shocked when he felt Bulma hug him from behind, and even more shocked that he was doing nothing to stop her. "Of course it matters, you baka Saiyan," she chided. "You matter."</p><p>Vegeta couldn't help the feelings of pride that swelled within him at her words that she had said before, but then it dawned on him that she was wrong. She was just too innocent to see it.</p><p>"You're wrong about that, woman. Don't say something like that again. We both know it's not true."</p><p>"How can you say that?" she quietly snapped at him. "You're strong, brave, and deep down you're a good person."</p><p>Vegeta turned to glare at her. "That is a downright lie. After everything I've done, how could you say I'm 'good?'"</p><p>"Well, you could have just left and let the planet get destroyed," she pointed out. "You could have just trained, fought Goku until you defeated him, kill us, and left, but you didn't. You could have killed me for going back on my word and interfering with the androids' creation. You could have-" She was cut off by Vegeta's lips.</p><p>He really didn't want to hear another thing he could have done, and probably still should do. He didn't want to hear anything at all. For the first time in his life, Vegeta just wanted to feel something. For his entire life, he hardened himself to the point where he couldn't feel anything. His senses were dulled slightly so that he could endure pain longer and not be able to form any attachments. He hated it, yet he did it to survive. Underneath his cold façade was still the same six year old boy who was afraid to get on Frieza's ship, who forced himself not to mourn the loss of his parents in fear he'd be punished for being weak, the same boy who trained and killed so that he wouldn't have to deal with the memory of his first real kill.</p><p>They pulled away from each other and Vegeta could see how confused Bulma was by his actions. He didn't understand them either. All he knew was she was what Nappa had described to him years before. She was his woman, and now that he had admitted that, he wouldn't let her go.</p><p>Bulma smiled at him and put her hand against his cheek. "See, you have a good heart, Vegeta," she whispered. "You just can't see it yet, but I can. And since I can see that, you matter to me. I care about you, Vegeta."</p><p>"You shouldn't," he told her.</p><p>"Maybe not," Bulma replied, "but I was never really one to do what I should do."</p><p>She and Vegeta stared at one another in a heavy silence, before he went outside to continue training. Somehow her words seemed to give him the energy he needed.</p><hr/><p>"So, do you think he'll try again?" Juu asked Jay.</p><p>"I don't know, but I think we should stay here just in case," Jay admitted. "Bulma said she'd be fine with it if at any point if we felt we needed a place to get away. Krillin already went back to start packing some of our things. I already told him the personal items to get."</p><p>"Okay," Juu said sadly. "I really hate all of this, but I'm glad we met these nice people."</p><p>"Yeah, me too. Anyway, let's get some sleep. Bulma said we have meetings to go to tomorrow since it's our day off from class. We need to be ready."</p><p>Juu smiled and closed her eyes. Thankfully, she and her brother would be able to sleep peacefully that night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Days later…</em>
</p><p>Bulma finished her work for the day and went to grab a shower before bed.  She was covered in dirt and grease and felt really gross.</p><p>She passed Vegeta’s room and thoughts of a shower left her mind when she looked through his open door.  He was struggling aggressively in his sleep.</p><p><em>What the hell?  </em>She entered room and sat at the edge of his bed.  Vegeta’s eyes flew open when he felt her hand on his cheek.  He was breathing heavily before he looked over to Bulma.  He was panicked.</p><p><em>What is she doing here?  </em>The woman couldn’t have come to help him, right?  Didn’t she realize that he could have hurt her?  They were enemies, weren’t they?  Didn’t she hate him for kissing her the other night?  She should.</p><p>But she didn’t.  For once in Vegeta’s life, someone was trying to comfort him.</p><p>Bulma put her arms around the panicked Saiyan and let his head rest against her chest.  <em>That must have been some dream for him to let me do this.</em></p><p>“Sh, it’s okay, Vegeta,” Bulma cooed softly.  “It was just a dream.”</p><p>Vegeta curled up in her grip.  Normally he wouldn’t, but he was going to blame this moment of weakness on his exhaustion.  Never would he admit that if felt nice to be comforted.  He closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep.  Her soft heartbeat started to lull him into a calmer slumber.</p><p>Bulma frowned at the sleeping Saiyan.  What could he have gone through to cause such horrible nightmares?  She sighed knowing he probably wouldn’t let her get this close to him again.  Taking a chance, she kissed his temple and readjusted herself so they could both sleep peacefully.  Bulma drifted off not noticing the ghost of a smile on Vegeta’s face.</p><hr/><p>“So are the new bots ready?” Bulma asked.</p><p>“Yup, your father just added some finishing touches,” Jay answered.</p><p>“We’re ready to take them out to the GR,” Juu told her.</p><p>Bulma smiled.  “Perfect.  Vegeta flew off somewhere today so we can get them out there now.  It’ll be a nice surprise.”</p><p>“Hn, I don’t really think he’d appreciate it,” Jay muttered.</p><p>Juu looked over to Bulma and smiled.  “So what, bro?  At least we are helping to stop Gero, in a way, thanks to Bulma.”</p><p>“Hey, you guys are doing us a favor.  We’re very thankful for the extra help with the Capsule Corp. projects.  Now, let’s get these bots out to the GR and break for lunch.”</p><hr/><p>Vegeta was brooding on top of a cliff near where he and Nappa had fought the Earthlings two or three years before.  Not much had changed except there weren’t any bodies or broken helicopters, but most of the mountains were crushed, not like Vegeta expected that to change.</p><p>He couldn’t help but think about what had happened the night before. </p><p>
  <em>When he woke up, he felt at peace and comfortable.  He turned his head and found the source of that warmth.</em>
</p><p>She stayed?  Why would she do that for me?</p><p>
  <em>Vegeta quietly got up waking Bulma in the process.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Vegeta?” Bulma called out rubbing her eyes a bit.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He flinched.  He didn’t want to talk about what happened, nor did he want to talk with HER.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Go back to sleep, woman,” he said before flying out the window.</em>
</p><p>And here he was sitting at the site where he had committed horrible crimes against the woman’s people.  He still didn’t understand why she was being so nice to him.  She didn’t want anything from him, that he knew for a fact, or she would have taken it by now and he would have seen past her lies.  She genuinely cared about him and wanted to help him.</p><p>But he threatened to destroy the planet.  Part of him still had a voice in the back of his head nagging him to do it after he would defeat Kakarot.  Now, though, he wasn’t so sure if he could go through with it.  Could he destroy the only planet where he ever felt welcomed?  Could he leave it and go back out to live the rest of his life looking for a new home?  No one else anywhere would accept him.  What would he do?  Become like Frieza and take over where he left off?  He didn’t want to turn into that monster, not again.</p><p><em>Damn it! </em>Vegeta shouted in his head.  This was not supposed to happen.  He was never supposed to form attachments with anyone.  He was supposed to train, purge, defeat Frieza, take over the universe, and live the rest of his life out as the ruler he was born to be.  Now, he was still training, but not just for his benefit; he didn’t purge planets anymore; the brat from the future destroyed Frieza after Kakarot had beaten him; he lost his desire to rule the universe.  For once, it made the difference…if he couldn’t rule the Saiyans, he’d rather not rule at all, especially not like Frieza.  So then, what worth did he have?  His purposes in life were a joke.  What could the woman see in him when he had nothing left to offer?  Maybe she saw something in him that he didn’t see in himself.  It was possible, since he had been told ever since he was a kid that he was weak and worthless by many on Frieza’s ship.</p><p>The sun began to set and Vegeta decided that it was time to get back to Capsule Corp.  When he got back, everyone was already eating dinner.  Vegeta wasn’t ready to face Bulma yet, so he chose to train for a while.  When he got into the GR, he saw the new bots and a piece of paper.</p><p>
  <em>Vegeta,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We developed some new bots using a replicated alloy from your armor.  We’re hoping they hold out longer for you.  Hope they help.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bulma</em>
</p><p>She did it again, stunned him into silence again.  Vegeta smirked and turned the bots on.  This was going to be an even better training session than he had planned.  He would put Bulma’s present to good use.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters</p><p>Warning: Cheesy, Thanksgiving related topics XD  I just have Thanksgiving on the brain and had a heartwarming moment with my neighbor’s family today and I’m just happy right now :3</p><p>So let the cheesy, warmhearted fun commence XD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Woman, what the hell is all of this?” Vegeta bellowed from the kitchen.</p><p>Bulma ran into the kitchen and saw all of the food that her mother had been preparing for the dinner.  “Oh,” she replied, “my mother is just helping out the caterers with food for tomorrow’s banquet.  Some of my father’s business partners flying in for meetings for the next few weeks and their families are American and celebrate Thanksgiving.  It’s a holiday based off of a history of oppression leading to a new land full of hope and freedom.”</p><p>Bulma flashed Vegeta a smile thinking about how much that statement applied to him.  He had been working for Frieza, whom, according to her friends, was the worst evil they had ever faced.  Now he was on a planet that had a history of fighting for safety and freedom.  Now Vegeta was a part of that and she couldn’t be happier.</p><p>“Juu and Jay won’t be attending, though, which I’m kind of disappointed about, but Krillin decided to take them to meet Goku and spend some time with them.  I think those two are just trying to avoid the banquet.  I can hardly blame them.  They can be dull sometimes, and I get bored easily.”</p><p>Vegeta rolled his eyes although sitting in a room with a ton of people did sound terrible.  How many “holidays” would he have to suffer through on this miserable planet?  What would happen if one of their guests decided to attack one of them?  Dr. and Mrs. Briefs were too idiotic to notice if any of their colleagues and competitors had it in for them, and even though Bulma had seen the evils the universe had to offer, she was still way too trusting.  Take him, for example.  He had threatened to destroy their planet, killed a tons of her friends, nearly killed her and her other friends on Namek, stole their Dragon Balls, and then when everything with Frieza was over, he was sent to her planet and laughed about her best friend’s imminent end and then she decided it would be okay to invite him to live with her.  Talk about too trusting.  Now he would be worried about something happening to her tonight…damn woman.</p><p>“Anyway, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” she told him with a smile on her face.  “I know you probably don’t like crowds.  Anyway, I’ll sneak a ton of food up to your room.  Wouldn’t want you to starve, now would we?”</p><p>She winked at him causing a light blush to touch his cheeks, although he did hide it well.  “You’re insufferable,” he said to her.</p><p>“Aw, thanks Geta,” Bulma teased.  “And I feel the same way about you.”  She walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek before leaving the kitchen.  Vegeta was completely at a loss for what had just happened.</p><hr/><p>Bulma went up to her room, still smiling.  She knew deep down that Vegeta calling her insufferable after all the time they had spent together meant that he was just telling her how much he cared.  He wouldn’t take the time to insult her if he didn’t.  He never really insulted her friends unless they were brought up; he never insulted her parents; he never even spoke to Juu or Jay.  The only people he ever insulted were Goku, Gohan, Yamcha, and her.  Obviously he cared about Goku and Gohan.  They were the only other Saiyans left and she felt like he was starting to care about her too and, maybe because of that, he had a burning hatred for Yamcha.</p><p>Bulma shook the idea from her head.  She would not think about Yamcha right now.  They broke up permanently months ago when he had cheated on her.  Well, they hadn’t really broken up.  Bulma had just been dodging his calls, avoiding his visits, and just not speaking to him.  Maybe it was time she end it.  She still had hours to get ready for the party and she needed to lose the extra baggage, especially since she and Vegeta were getting closer.  The last thing she needed was to be in a complicated relationship with her Saiyan houseguest and a half-hearted one with her might-be ex-boyfriend.</p><p>Bulma quickly changed out of her lab clothes and put something on that was a little more casual.  She went back downstairs and ran into Vegeta.</p><p>“Woman, do you ever watch where you’re going?” he asked in a shout.</p><p>“Sorry, Vegeta,” she apologized, “I just have to go somewhere.  But I’ll be back shortly.”</p><p>Vegeta watched her trip over something else and nearly crash into the door.  She must have been in a rush and not really thinking.  It worried him.  He thought maybe he should follow her, since he had already mentally claimed her as his.  His final decision was to go and make sure she didn’t get herself killed crashing into things.</p><hr/><p>“Bulma?” Yamcha asked in surprise.  “You’re here?  You’re really, actually here?”</p><p>“Not for long,” Bulma said.  Vegeta chose that moment to land and he was irritated that she was with the weakling, but he decided to wait it out and keep hidden.  “Look, Yamcha, I know I didn’t make things clear last time we ‘spoke,’” she said using air quotes.  “Yamcha, we aren’t good for each other.  Obviously you feel that way too, since you decided to cheat on me so many times.  I think it’s best for us to break up and see other people.”</p><p>“NO!” Yamcha exclaimed.  “I mean, I don’t want that, Bulma.  Please just give me another chance.”  He saw the look of rejection on Bulma’s face.  “Is there someone else?” Yamcha asked, “because if there is, that’s not fair.”</p><p>“Yamcha, none of this is fair,” Bulma explained as if talking to a child.  “There might be someone else, but it’s not official or anything.  I don’t think you have the right to judge me even if I were cheating on you when you were sleeping with some other girl months ago as well as nine others before her.  I want us to still be friends.  We’ve known each other too long to drop out of each other’s lives forever, but you have to let me go.”</p><p>“But, we were in love,” Yamcha said helplessly trying to find any way for them to keep this going.</p><p>“We loved each other, but we were never IN love, Yamcha.  We were teenagers,” she pointed out.  “And then when we became adults, I got caught up with the company and you got caught up with baseball and your fangirls.  People just grow apart, Yami.  We need to move on and just hold on to our friendship.  Can you do that?”</p><p>“I guess,” Yamcha muttered clearly not happy about the situation.  “Just…if this new guy hurts you, I will hunt him down and kill him.”</p><p>Bulma laughed nervously.  “Don’t worry about that, Yamcha.  I can take care of myself.”</p><hr/><p>Bulma returned home to find Vegeta lounging in the living room.  He had gotten back way before she ever did and he was eyeing her without blinking.  It was a little unnerving.</p><p>“Vegeta?  You okay?” she asked, again not hiding her concern for him.</p><p>Vegeta just stood up and walked over to her.  “I will attend the banquet with you tonight,” he told her leaving no room for her to say “no.”</p><p>Bulma smiled and nodded before starting to walk upstairs to her room.  She then turned back to Vegeta.  “Hey, you know what I’m thankful for?” she asked.  Vegeta just stared at her, so she continued.  “I’m thankful that you came to destroy our planet.”  Bulma couldn’t help but laugh at the look Vegeta was giving her.  “No, I’m not crazy.  Just hear me out.  If you hadn’t come for the Dragon Balls, we wouldn’t have had to go to Namek and the two of us would have never met and you wouldn’t be here now.  And that is why I am thankful that you came here.  I’ll see you tonight.”</p><p>Vegeta rushed in front of Bulma with his superhuman speed and held her in his tight grasp.  “You are my greatest weakness,” he said making Bulma frown.  He then smirked at her.  “But you are also my greatest asset.”  Vegeta gave her a quick kiss before disappearing outside to the GR.  Bulma heard the familiar buzzing and thought through what had just happened.  That was definitely the weirdest moment she had ever had with the Saiyan.  He had never said something like that to her before but she kind of liked it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A couple of weeks had passed since the banquet and Vegeta was back to training all the time.</p><p><em>I’ll never understand that Saiyan, </em>Bulma thought as she typed some equations into her computer.  <em>Hasn’t he realized yet that excessively training isn’t making him any stronger?</em></p><p>What she didn’t know was that he had realized that.  The only reason he was training at the moment was to clear his head.  There was too much on his mind.  First, he had a good time at the banquet, not from being around other humans, but from being there with Bulma.  He made it clear that he wanted her before the banquet and she made it clear during the banquet that she liked him and possibly wanted him too. Vegeta never expected caring about someone to feel like this and where part of him dreaded it, the other part of him liked it, and that wasn’t good at all.</p><p>He wasn’t an idiot and he knew that somewhere out there he still had many enemies.  If any of them ever ended up there on Earth, they would use Bulma against him.  They didn’t have the “morals” humans possessed and they would kill her without a second thought.  No bribery or blackmail, just senseless killing.  He knew; he had been one of them.</p><p>That was another thing, “had been.”  Vegeta hated to admit this, but he was changing, probably for the better, but he was still hesitant.  He actually found himself “loosening up” like the woman had told him to do when she had invited him to stay with her family.  He was even becoming more lax in his training, and that was also a problem.</p><p>He hadn’t become a Super Saiyan yet.  He wanted to attribute it to all of the changes in his life, but he couldn’t.  Kakarot had transformed because he cared and Frieza took his best friend from him.  Vegeta concluded that he needed to care about the woman, but he wasn’t willing to let anyone take her away from him in order to transform.  There had to be a middle ground, or the transformation would never happen.  He could never let anything happen to her now that he had staked his claim.  That would be an even bigger wound to his pride than not transforming.</p><p>
  <em>What is the middle ground, though?  What do I have to do?  I need to transform to protect her, but I can’t transform if I don’t lose her.  What the hell kind of logic is this?</em>
</p><p>A knock on the door of the GR forced him out of his thoughts.  It was Bulma.</p><p>“Vegeta, mom has lunch on the table,” she said from the other side.  “Please come out.”</p><p>Vegeta could hear the worry in her voice and, where he wanted to ignore her, his instincts told him to give in, plus he was hungry and lunch sounded really good.</p><p>The door opened and Bulma was met by a pretty beat up Saiyan.  She sighed in frustration.  “How many times do I have to tell you not to let yourself get this hurt?” she shouted at him.  He winced at her volume but let her continue.  “This won’t help you; this won’t make you stronger.”</p><p>“And?” Vegeta pressed.</p><p>“And?” Bulma asked.  “AND?  You idiot!  You aren’t helping anyone by torturing yourself!  Why do you feel the need to hurt yourself like this?”</p><p>Halfway through her tirade, tears started streaming down her face.  Vegeta didn’t really know how to handle a crying woman, mostly because he never had to unless he was ending their lives.  This was uncharted territory and he didn’t know what he was supposed to do.</p><p>When he didn’t respond, Bulma turned to leave and run into the house but he caught her wrist and she looked back at him.  He was staring partly at the ground, partly at her; he looked almost apologetic.  Bulma sighed and moved to hug him.  She patted his back and muttered that it was okay, that she forgave him.  Despite being a hardened criminal, he really was a lost, little boy who needed love and care.  She would never say it out loud though, in fear she might wound his delicate, breakable pride.</p><p>“Are you coming for lunch?” Bulma asked.  Vegeta gave a curt nod.  Bulma smiled.  “Well, then let me clean you up first.”</p><hr/><p>Vegeta followed her into the med bay and thought about the first time she forced him in there.  He didn’t know it then, but that was the start of their relationship, however twisted and confusing it may be.</p><p>Bulma saw Vegeta sitting deep in thought and had a feeling she was thinking the same thing.  “Who would have thought we would ever end up here?”</p><p>Vegeta scoffed.  “Well, with how many times you force me in here, it’s not that surprising.”</p><p>Bulma laughed lightheartedly.  “Not here,” she said motioning to the room.  “Here.”  She motioned between the two of them.  “I meant us.  I don’t what exactly it is,” she said gently cleaning out his cuts, “but I do know that I care deeply for you, Vegeta.  I want to be with you.”</p><p>Vegeta felt a very warm feeling burning in his chest when he heard her words.   He didn’t know what to say; he wasn’t very good with words.  Instead, he pulled her close to him and kissed her.  She smiled into the kiss before putting her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss.  For both of them, it felt so right, but not everyone felt that way.</p><p>“Really, Bulma?”  Yamcha asked angrily.  Both Bulma and Vegeta looked over to him.  “This is the guy you were hoping to be with?”</p><p>“Yes,” Bulma admitted.  What did she have to hide?  She did the right thing and broke up with Yamcha first.</p><p>Yamcha looked over to Vegeta who was just sitting there glaring at him, a silent threat hiding within his eyes.  “Bulma, do you forget who he is?”</p><p>“No, but do you need a reminder?” she asked, starting to get irritated.  She knew where he was going to take this and she didn’t want to have try convincing Vegeta later that he wasn’t a bad person, just mislead.</p><p>“He killed our friends; he killed me; he threatened to blow up our planet and kill Goku who we’ve both known since he was a kid!” Yamcha growled.  “And yet you want to be with him?”  He chuckled bitterly thinking about her confession to the arrogant Saiyan he heard only moments ago.  “If you were to be with him, he would use you.  A guy like him is incapable of love.”</p><p>Vegeta was happy that neither Yamcha or Bulma noticed him pale or tense.</p><p>“Yamcha, that is not true, and you are acting like an immature brat,” Bulma said calmly.  “You don’t understand anything.  Both Goku and I see the good in Vegeta.”  Vegeta looked over to Bulma in shock, but kept the emotion concealed well.  “What are you doing here?”</p><p>“I came to try and work things out with you, but I can see how well that’s going,” Yamcha scoffed.</p><p>“I told you already; we aren’t good for each other.  Now respect my decision and be happy for me.  If not, then just leave.”</p><p>“Fine by me, but don’t think you can come crying to me when this jerk disappoints you.”</p><p>Bulma rolled her eyes causing Vegeta to smirk.  Yamcha glared at the now couple and stormed out of the med bay.</p><p>Bulma looked over to Vegeta and smiled weakly.  She felt guilty for how badly Yamcha had behaved.  Vegeta flinched away from her when she gently touched his cheek.  He shook her hand off and turned his back to her which could be considered either an act of total trust or that of surrender.  Right now it was the latter.</p><p>“He’s right, you know,” Vegeta stated calmly.  “I am evil and I could never love you the way you deserve.”  Vegeta didn’t even know why he was saying this.  He told himself that he would never let her go, but he couldn’t trap her into being with him.  She was too good for that, too good for him.  He should have seen it earlier, but he refused and let himself grow attached.  <em>It couldn’t last.  I knew better.</em></p><p>He sucked in air when he felt Bulma’s hands on his shoulders.  She started rubbing his shoulders and he started to relax.  He had no idea what she was doing but it was making him feel better nonetheless.  “You shouldn’t let what that idiot said bother you,” Bulma whispered in his ear.  “He’s just jealous and wanted to try and make us feel bad.  But it doesn’t matter.”  Vegeta turned his head to look at her, silently asking her what she meant.  She laid her hand on his chest.  “You have a good heart, Vegeta.  And you aren’t evil.  You’ve had a difficult life, and even if I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for you, I know it affected you greatly.  But you aren’t that person anymore.  If you were, you would be actively killing the people on this planet.”</p><p>Vegeta didn’t want to agree with her.  He knew she was right, but did he really want to admit that he was haunted by his past?  That he felt guilty for his past actions?  Could he admit it to her?  He couldn’t decide now.  Instead he leaned his forehead against Bulma’s and closed his eyes.  She allowed him to stay like that with her until her parents came and found them for lunch.  Bulma smiled at him reassuringly, just to tell him everything would work out.  He took her hand as they made their way to the kitchen.  Right now, he actually felt like he needed the closeness.</p><hr/><p>"So, how did everything go with Dr. Gero?” Professor Phan asked the twins.</p><p>“We got a better offer,” Jay said.  The two noticed their teacher’s face fall.  Then her attention moved to something else.</p><p>“Who are you?” she asked.</p><p>“Oh, my name’s Krillin.  I just came to observe the class today.”</p><p>“Oh, well hello then,” Professor Phan replied.  “Take a seat.”</p><p>Krillin followed Jay and Juu to their seats and sat in between them.</p><p>“Did you see the way she reacted?” Juu asked her brother and Krillin.</p><p>“Yeah, definitely suspicious,” Jay agreed.</p><p>“If she says anything to you after class, then we’ll know something’s up,” Krillin told them.  “But she’ll never say anything thinking I’m here.  I’ll leave with the rest of the class, but stay out in the hall.  If there’s any trouble, I’ll come back in and say I had questions.”</p><p>“No offense Krillin, but do you actually know anything about engineering?” Jay asked.</p><p>“Well, no,” Krillin admitted, “but I know a lot about the technology Bulma uses.  She’s explained some of it and I picked up on a few things.”</p><p>“Plan sounds as good as any we can come up with,” Juu stated.  “Let’s just wait and see.”</p><hr/><p>After class, what Krillin had predicted happened.</p><p>“Mister and Miss Gojin, may I speak with you for a moment?” Professor Phan asked.</p><p>Juu looked over to her brother and then they both looked over to Krillin.</p><p>“I’ll catch you later, guys,” Krillin said, waving as he went out into the hall.</p><p>Both twins noticed Professor Phan frowning at Krillin.  It was almost as if she was angry at him for being their friend.  Maybe she did know.</p><p>“Now, you two,” she started, “what do you mean a better offer?”</p><p>“Well,” Juu spoke up, “my brother and I were offered jobs at Capsule Corporation by Bulma Briefs personally and we couldn’t turn that down.  Please apologize to you friend for us.”</p><p>“That wasn’t what we agreed upon, though,” Professor Phan said starting to lose her cool.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Jay and Juu asked simultaneously.</p><p>“I said I would overlook this if you helped my colleague with his research,” she reminded them.</p><p>“We know,” Jay replied hesitantly, “and we really are sorry about this, but this is better for us.  If you choose to punish us, though, we’d rather take it.”</p><p>Professor Phan stared at the two in shock and then sighed.  “Don’t worry.  You’re grades are fine.  Run along.”</p><p>She watched Jay and Juu meet up with Krillin and watched them leave together.  They had important jobs and friends now.  Professor Phan shook her head and then dialed a number on her cell phone.  Someone on the other end picked up.</p><p>“I think we have a problem…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It couldn’t be happening; it just couldn’t be happening.  This was not happening.  His specimens were now less than ideal candidates.  They had friends and a job.  If he took them now, it would cause commotion.  It would just take one missed day at work or missing a date and then there would be cops searching everywhere.  And to top off his luck, Bulma Briefs was the friend of his mortal enemy and now the twins’ boss and the girl’s new boyfriend was the best friend of said enemy.</p><p>“Could this possibly get any worse?” Dr. Gero asked himself.  Even his newest model, Android 12 (AKA Professor Phan) was worried.  The boy known as Krillin had accompanied the twins to class that day and the two of them had moved into the Briefs’ compound.  <em>They must suspect something, but how is that possible?</em></p><p>He couldn’t figure it out.  He had kept all of his research a secret.  No one knew where his secret lab was located.  What had tipped them off?</p><p>Then it hit him.  <em>The blip of energy.</em></p><p>Dr. Gero moved to his computer and typed in a bunch of randomly confusing numbers.  He then typed in the date that Frieza and King Cold came to Earth, they day he received their energy for another of his creations…one that he needed the twins for.  That’s when he saw what really happened.</p><p>“Who is that boy there?” he asked when he saw the purple-haired Saiyan fighting the two aliens.</p><p>But there weren’t any more Saiyans other than Goku or Vegeta, well minus Goku’s son, and this one looked nothing like a Saiyan.  Maybe he wasn’t, well at least not a full-blooded one.  But how could that be?  Goku had only one son and Vegeta didn’t have any children of his own, so how could it happen.</p><p>Then he saw the machine.  He had never seen a machine like it but it had the Capsule Corp. logo.  Somehow, this machine brought a teenage Super Saiyan to the battle.  It would take him time to figure out who the boy was and what that machine did.  In the meantime, he needed to find new specimens.  His research would stop for no one.</p><hr/><p>“Okay, so what is all of this?”</p><p>“Oh, hey Vegeta,” Bulma said with a smile.  “Well, it’s the twins’ birthday today, so I’m helping mom bake a cake.  How does it look?”</p><p>Vegeta eyed her curiously before glaring at the colorful food.  “For what reason does the appearance of any food matter?” he asked.</p><p>Bulma giggled.  “Because it’s a birthday cake, silly.  Haven’t you ever-“  He raised his eyebrow at her and she stopped before finishing her question.  She already knew the answer.  “You never celebrated your birthday before, have you?”</p><p>Vegeta frowned.  What kind of question was that?  The day of his birth was not something he had ever reveled in while working under Frieza.  To him it just meant another year of living as a slave, a failure, a disgrace.  Why would he ever want to celebrate it?</p><p>She could tell what he was thinking and walked over to him.  He backed away from her, staring intently at her as if waiting to see what she would do or say.</p><p>She smiled at him.  “We should celebrate the next time it comes around,” she said sweetly.  “Trust me; it will be a lot of fun.”</p><p>“I will not,” he replied.</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“Because it doesn’t hold any value,” he told her.  “Not to me, not to anyone else.”</p><p>“It matters to me,” Bulma said defiantly.</p><p>Vegeta sighed.  He would never understand this human companionship thing.  Saiyans never really cared about birthdays either…or did they?  He couldn’t remember.  He was so young when he was taken from his planet and any good memories, if any, he had of his life were erased by the years under Frieza’s regime.</p><p>“I can tell, but I refuse to be a part of it,” Vegeta answered with finality.  “Besides I’ve never celebrated it before.  Why would I want to now?”</p><p>“Because you’re free,” Bulma whispered sadly.  Vegeta heard her and looked down.  Why was she always right and why did he always upset her?  “Look, just come to the party tonight, okay?  There will be a lot of food, and if you don’t like it you can always go to your room or the GR.  Just come.”</p><p>Vegeta nodded.  He would go and, even if he did enjoy himself, he would tell her he hated it.  There were two reasons for that: one, he didn’t believe he deserved to enjoy himself after all the pain he caused; and two, he didn’t really remember when his birthday was.  On Frieza’s ship, age meant nothing.  Power was all that mattered and if you survived to adulthood, great.  All that Vegeta had kept in mind time wise was how long it had been since he had seen his home planet, hunted with his father, looked up at the planet’s night sky…that’s all that mattered to him.  He would have told the woman this, but she was smart.  Maybe she would figure it out on her own and save him the trouble of being weak and talking about his “feelings,” as the humans call it.</p><hr/><p>Bulma could tell that Vegeta was having a better time at the party than he was letting on, if only because of the food.  He didn’t enjoy having too many people around.  He seemed relaxed around Goku and Gohan, thought he would probably never admit it; however, anytime Krillin, or the twins, or Tien, Chiaotzu, or Yamcha (unfortunately invited by kind-hearted Goku) came near him, he would tense or threaten them.</p><p>Was she the only human that he fully trusted?  When he left the room in a hurry, she figured she had her answer.  Vegeta was nervous.</p><p>Bulma excused herself from talking to Chi Chi (who just made everyone nervous) and followed him.</p><p>Vegeta was out on his balcony, rapidly breathing.  He had just had another stupid memory or Frieza and his little get-togethers when that weak human, Krillin, had put his hand on his shoulder by accident.  <em>Why? </em>he mentally cried.  <em>Why can’t I rid myself of this nightmare?  Maybe this is what I deserve.  To be continuously haunted by my tormentor and destroyer of my race and world.</em></p><p>“Vegeta?”  He turned around quickly.  The woman had startled him.  How could he have not sensed her coming?</p><p>Bulma took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off Vegeta’s brow.  “You need to stop stressing yourself out like this,” she said calmly.  “You can really hurt yourself.”</p><p>Vegeta scoffed.  “I already know that, woman.  I don’t need a lecture.”</p><p>“Well, you need something,” Bulma replied.  “I just wish I could help you.”</p><p>“No one can,” Vegeta retorted.</p><p>Bulma didn’t believe that for one second.  “Why do you hate yourself so much?” she asked.</p><p>Though surprised by her question, Vegeta was more surprised by the answer he gave.  “I failed them.”</p><p>“Who?”</p><p>“The question, woman, is who haven’t I failed.  I failed my parents, my race, Raditz and Nappa.  I failed myself and that low-class warrior and his brat.  I’ve failed everyone!”</p><p>Vegeta’s rage got the better of him and he blasted a tree in her yard causing birds to fly away.</p><p>Bulma just stared blankly at the panting Saiyan.  “Do you feel better now?”</p><p>“What?” he snapped.</p><p>“You just released a lot of energy and anger,” she observed, “so I’ll ask again.  Do you feel better now?”</p><p>Vegeta had to think about it for a minute.  He actually did feel better, but why?  Whenever he was angry, he did unleash his anger, but this time it was different.</p><p><em>And some people think talking about their problems doesn’t help, </em>Bulma thought with a smirk.</p><p>Vegeta looked at her in shock.  “What did you say?”</p><p>“Huh?” Bulma asked.  “When?”</p><p>“Just now, about talking…”</p><p>“I didn’t say anything, Vegeta,” Bulma said nervously, “but I did think it.  Wait, can you read minds now?”</p><p>Vegeta didn’t know what to say.  Was he really that stupid?  He had claimed her and then, when he decided it couldn’t work out for him, he had bonded with her.  How could he let that happen?</p><p>“Vegeta?” Bulma tried again, this time brushing her hand against his forehead.  Her eyes widened when she saw one of his memories.  The one he had during the party.</p><p>He had been forced to attend Frieza’s meeting/party and ended up being forced from the party by that blue guy with green hair from Namek after muttering something disrespectful and traitorous against his lizard-like captor.</p><p>She removed her hand before she could see anymore.  Vegeta opened his eyes that he had clenched shut and stared into her terrified ones.  <em>How could I do this to her? </em>Vegeta asked himself.  This was one of the things he never wanted to taint her with.</p><p>“You didn’t do anything, Vegeta,” Bulma told him as she heard him blame himself.  He looked away from her.  “And you’re not a failure.  You prove that every day you get up and train.  Every day you live is another day you move on and show Frieza that he didn’t destroy you, that you were always better than him.  You’ve done terrible things, Vegeta, but you have also done great things and just because YOU don’t think that matters, it does.  So stop this self-pity and live your life.  As for Goku and Gohan, you haven’t failed them.”  Vegeta perked up a little bit waiting for her to explain.  “Did you know that Goku comes by sometimes to see if you’ll spar with him for fun, or that Gohan asks me questions about you and Planet Vegeta thinking maybe you’ve told me things?  They admire you, Vegeta, because you are the only one that can tell them of the world they never knew.  And after how you helped them on Namek, they trust you.  I trust you too.”</p><p>Vegeta couldn’t believe it and wanted so hard not to.  That made his jealousy over Goku’s transformation seem pointless.  If the low-class warrior who had become a Super Saiyan before him respected him, then what more could he really ask for?  Sure, he may not be able to lead them on this mud ball of a planet, but part of them did want to keep their heritage alive.  Bulma wanted to help keep their heritage alive.</p><p>“I don’t know,” he said.</p><p>Bulma raised her eyebrow at him.  “You don’t know what?”</p><p>“I don’t remember when my birthday is.  I only remember a circular constellation appearing in Planet Vegeta’s night sky that only appeared on my birthday before I was given to Frieza.”</p><p>Bulma smirked.  “That can work.”</p><p>“What do you mean by that, woman?” Vegeta asked nervously.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” she replied.  “It’s my secret, for now.  You’re just going to have to trust me.”</p><p>“That’s what worries me.”</p><p>Bulma giggled and then caught Vegeta off-guard by kissing him.  When she moved to leave, Vegeta grabbed her wrist.</p><p>“Stay,” he requested.  Bulma nodded in response.  The two of them walked back to his room and lied down on his bed.  Vegeta closed his eyes and started rubbing Bulma’s sides.  He had never so at peace before in his life.  He was content, almost happy.  He felt Bulma’s fingers running through his hair and massaging his scalp.  It was comforting.</p><p>Bulma kissed his forehead, his jawline, and then moved to his lips.  She smiled when she felt him kiss her back with equal passion if not more.</p><p>Vegeta knew very little about women, but he did know about the Saiyan mating process.  He knew that once bonded, the next step was mating.  Whatever fears he had outside on the terrace were erased when he felt her hands underneath his shirt stroking his back.</p><hr/><p>Goku knew what was going on; he could feel it.  He let his goofy grin show as he and his son were flying with his wife back home.</p><p>“Dad, what’s up?” Gohan asked.</p><p>Goku chuckled.  “Nothing Gohan,” he lied though with a smile on his face.  “Nothing at all.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer:  I don’t own DBZ or the characters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bulma was nervous.  She had never been so nervous in her life: not high school, not graduation, not her college days, but now.  It had been about two months since she and Vegeta had been together and she was late.</p><p>“Okay, Bulma.  Now or never.”  She went to read the stick and it confirmed what she both wanted and feared.  <em>Oh Kami, I’m pregnant.</em></p><p>She was afraid of how Vegeta would react to the news.  Lately he had been a bit distant and it worried her.  They had made such progress a while back during the party.  He had finally admitted something to her, but now…she just didn’t know what to think.</p><p><em>Did I do something wrong? </em>she asked herself.  It was possible.  She had forced him to talk about things he had probably rather keep buried, but she cared about him and wanted to be there for him.  <em>Maybe I should just keep this to myself for now, until he’s ready to talk.</em>  Little did she know, he was already waiting to talk.</p><hr/><p>Vegeta had known for about two weeks now.  He had been waiting for the woman to figure it out and come to him, but he could hear her thoughts and he knew that she finally knew and that she was going to keep it from him.  Well, until he was ready to talk, but he would never lower his pride that much that he would initiate this conversation.</p><p>He wasn’t thrilled, but he wasn’t angry either.  He didn’t know what to think or how to feel.  The only baby he ever saw was his little brother, Tarble, but he had been sent away to another planet because of his “weak” nature.  Only one question really went through his mind.</p><p>Would he be a good father?</p><p>Vegeta didn’t have a childhood; it consisted of training, killing, and being abused.  Sure, he would never want to hurt his own child, but what if he did?  Could he live with himself if that happened?  The answer was no.</p><p>He wanted to run, run away from all of the decisions, away from his life, but he couldn’t.  He was better than that.</p><p>He decided he would end his training for now and seek the woman out.  Maybe if he ran into her by accident, she would just start this conversation already.</p><hr/><p>It took Dr. Gero forever to figure out what that machine did.  He eventually figured out that it was a time machine.  The teen with purple hair, he determined, was the son of Bulma Briefs from the future.  He must have warned the Z fighters about the twins and his plans.</p><p>Then it hit him.  Bulma Briefs, the intelligent, resilient vice-president of Capsule Corp. would be a perfect candidate, but for different reasons.  She was the best friend of Goku and the other Z fighters and by the looks of it, she would have a son with the only other Saiyan in existence, meaning Vegeta wouldn’t fight her either.  It was the perfect plan.  Now he just had to figure out when and how he was going to kidnap her.</p><hr/><p>Vegeta found her making herself a snack.  He assumed that since she was pregnant with his child, she would be frequenting the kitchen more often.</p><p>When Bulma finally noticed he was there, she smiled at him.  Vegeta felt an unknown feeling swell in his chest at the gesture, but shook it off.</p><p>“Hey, Vegeta,” she greeted.  “Care to join me?”</p><p>Vegeta nodded and took a seat next to her.  He stared at her while she ate.  Eventually she looked at him.  She looked into his eyes and saw that he was waiting for something and she had a feeling she knew what it was.</p><p>“How long have you known?” she asked.</p><p>“A couple weeks,” Vegeta replied.</p><p>Bulma wasn’t exactly happy with his answer, but she didn’t care.  “Are you okay with it?”  Vegeta shrugged causing Bulma to frown.  “Vegeta, I need to know what you want.”</p><p>He chuckled bitterly and Bulma could see that he was fighting with himself.  Why couldn’t he just make everything easier on himself?</p><p>“It’s strange.  I used to know what I wanted.  I wanted to destroy Frieza, rule over an empire, and become the ruler I was destined to be.  Now, I ironically have no idea what I want.  I’m pathetic.”</p><p>“Stop that,” she ordered.  He looked at her like he had no idea what he was talking about.  “You aren’t pathetic, Vegeta.  This is just as confusing and terrifying for me too, but you aren’t alone in this.”  She took his hand and placed it on her stomach.  “We’ll get through this.”</p><p>Vegeta let himself feel the energy of their unborn child and smirked.  He was already powerful and she was only about two months pregnant.  He started unconsciously stroking Bulma’s stomach before he kissed her.</p><p>Bulma groaned.  “Vegeta, if you do that I won’t be able to finish my snack and I’m hungry.”</p><p>Vegeta chuckled and picked up a grape from the dish and ate it.  Bulma laughed and playfully smacked him.  “You’re such a jerk.”</p><p>Vegeta smirked and grabbed Bulma.  “I know.”</p><hr/><p>“So, it finally happened?” Piccolo asked.</p><p>Goku had his signature grin plastered on his face.  “Yup!  Trunks is going to be born.  I’m happy for them.”</p><p>“If you say so,” Piccolo said, still unsure about Vegeta’s character.  He didn’t care so much about the girl, but she was Goku’s friend and Gohan took a liking to her.  For some reason he couldn’t shake the idea that her life was in danger and he just hoped that Vegeta wouldn’t be the cause of it.</p><hr/><p>The next day, Bulma was working on some monthly tests for the GR with Juu’s help.</p><p>“Good morning, Juu,” she greeted.</p><p>“Morning, Bulma,” Juu greeted back.  The two of them had become really good friends over the last few months.</p><p>“So how are you?” Bulma asked.</p><p>“As good as I can be right now,” she replied.  “I keep feeling like that guy is always somewhere nearby.  After he broken into mine and Jay’s apartment I can’t help feeling like he’s one step ahead of us.”</p><p>“Don’t worry, Juu,” Bulma told her.  “He can’t get here, not without Vegeta or Krillin sensing him.  Plus security around here is pretty tight.  You’ll be fine.”</p><p>“Thank you, Bulma.  For letting us stay here and letting us work.”</p><p>“It’s really not a problem,” Bulma responded.  “I like having you and your brother here.  It’s nice.  Plus, I’m going to need a little more of your help with this stuff anyway.  I’m pregnant.”</p><p>“For real?” Juu asked feeling a little surprised.  Bulma gave a small smile and nodded and she typed something into the keypad.</p><p>“Bulma, that’s great.  I’m happy for you.  Who’s the father?”</p><p>Bulma nearly laughed, but she realized that no one really knew of her relationship with the Saiyan except for Yamcha.</p><p>“Vegeta,” she revealed.</p><p>Juu almost didn’t believe her, but if anyone could get through to the Saiyan, she knew it was Bulma.</p><p>“Well, I’m glad that you seem so happy.”</p><p>Bulma knew she probably wouldn’t get a better response than that.  “Thank you, Juu.  I am.  Anyway, let’s finish up with these tests and then get some lunch.  This little Saiyan inside me wants food.”</p><p>Juu laughed.  Why didn’t that surprise her?   “Okay, you’re the boss,” she teased.</p><hr/><p><em>“He can’t get here, not without Vegeta or Krillin sensing him,”</em> Dr. Gero overheard the girl say.  He had sent one of his spy bots there to see if he could gather more information.  To his dismay, he realized that she was right.  The Saiyans would never let him near her.  That’s when he made a decision.  It was one that would change his life forever.</p><p>Dr. Gero was going to make himself an android.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A month had gone by and Vegeta still kept his distance from Bulma.  Sure, there would be times where he’d spend some time with her and their unborn child, but it wasn’t often.  Bulma didn’t mind; she knew that there was some underlying reason that he was avoiding the issue, but she wouldn’t force him to do anything if he just couldn’t deal with it.</p><p>Meanwhile, she was spending less time in the lab and Jay and Juu were getting more involved.</p><p>“I still can’t believe you agreed to this,” Juu joked.  “I mean, it’ll be a long time before you can’t work.  Why now?  You love this stuff.”</p><p>Bulma attempted to hide her smile when she thought of the day Vegeta ordered her to stop working.</p><p>
  <em>“Woman, what the hell are you doing?” Vegeta asked Bulma.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What does it look like I’m doing?” Bulma retorted.  “I’m fixing the bots that you somehow managed to break…AGAIN!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Drop it,” Vegeta ordered.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bulma was slightly taken aback.  “W-what?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Put that damn wrench down.  Don’t make me say it again.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bulma was shocked.  Vegeta was always demanding that she work quicker, make his training material more durable; never did he ask her to stop working.  “Vegeta, are you okay?” Bulma asked in concern.  “You’re not sick, are you?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Vegeta glared at her.  “There is no disease on this planet that can hurt me, woman.  Now, drop…that…wrench.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bulma placed her hands on her hips, wrench still in hand.  “Not until you give me a damn good reason why I should give into this.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Because you’re carrying my child!” Vegeta shouted, making Bulma jump back at the forcefulness of his voice.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Vegeta, it’s not going to hurt the baby if I fix a machine.  I’m not going to carry it or anything.  Why are you worrying about this?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Vegeta looked away.  “You should be resting.  That brat is going to take a lot of energy away from you…energy you don’t have.  Just don’t work.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Vegeta walked away leaving Bulma stunned in the middle of her lab.  That was probably the only instance she would see of Vegeta’s caring nature.  Bulma looked down to the wrench she was still holding and back at the door.  She gently put it down with the rest of her tools.  A day to herself wouldn’t be that bad, anyway.</em>
</p><p>“Juu, it’s complicated,” Bulma said, still smiling, “but with everything going on, if it gets him to stop worrying and not flip out at me all the time, I’ll do it.”</p><p>“You know, it’s so sickeningly sweet, yet annoying at the same time,” Juu muttered.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Bulma questioned.</p><p>“The things we do for our guys,” Juu stated.  She herself couldn’t help but smile.</p><p>Bulma grinned over to her.  “Ah, so you and Krillin are official?”</p><p>Juu blushed, but nodded the affirmative.  “He’s really sweet.  I’m kind of glad that freak was targeting Jay and me or else I would have never met him.  Don’t tell Jay I said that, though.  The whole android thing is still creeping him out.”</p><p>“Me too,” Bulma agreed, “but hey, one year left, I believe…then it’ll be over.  They can do it; I know they can.”</p><p>“I like your optimism,” Juu told her.  “Anyway, let me help you clean up.  That way your baby daddy won’t flip out so much.”</p><p>Bulma’s mouth dropped open.  Juu definitely had no reservations.  “Oh my Kami, Juu…whatever the hell you do, don’t let Vegeta ever hear you call him that.”  Juu laughed at her boss’s/best friend’s reaction.</p><p>“Don’t worry.  Girl talk is like Vegas.  What happens in girl talk, stays in girl talk.”</p><p>Bulma smiled and shook her head.  The two girls finished cleaning the lab and then decided to go off for a girls’ day out.  Little did they know, they were being followed.</p><hr/><p>“Hey, Jay,” Krillin greeted.  “Is Juu around?”</p><p>“Nope,” Jay replied while welding two pieces of metal together.  “She and Bulma went shopping.”</p><p>“Oh, alone?  Or did Vegeta go with them?”</p><p>Jay looked at Krillin with a “are you freaking kidding me” look.  “Can you imagine?” he said before chuckling.</p><p>“So they went alone?” Krillin asked nervously.</p><p>“Don’t worry so much,” Jay replied.  “They’ll be okay.  After the defense stuff you’ve been teaching her, Juu has the means to defend herself from an old man like Gero.  They’ll be fine.”</p><p>“I hope you’re right…” Krillin mumbled.  He then felt a strange sense of panic.  “I guess I’ll catch you later.”</p><p>Krillin quickly ran out of Capsule Corp. and strangely enough crashed straight into Vegeta.  “Oh, hey Vegeta,” he said in a panic.  “I really have to be going right now.”</p><p>“You sensed it too,” Vegeta stated, more than asked.</p><p>“Um, yeah…what was I sensing?”</p><p>“The women are in danger,” Vegeta replied.</p><hr/><p>“Well, I really like this blue dress,” Juu stated.  “It looks so much better on you than the green one.”</p><p>“Haha, I think so too,” Bulma agreed.  “Are you going to get that purple one?”</p><p>“I don’t know…” Juu said unsure.</p><p>“Oh come on, you know you want it,” Bulma teased.  “Besides, it’s the annual Capsule Corp. business ball.  You have to get something.”</p><p>“I guess you’re right.  Plus, the biggest challenge is going to be getting my brother to agree to getting a tux.”</p><p>“You have to worry about Jay; I have to worry about Vegeta.”</p><p>Juu couldn’t help but laugh.  “Oh my Kami, that’s right.  Please, let me come with you that day.”</p><p>Bulma looked at her in disbelief.  “I don’t think he’d want an audience.  I already know he’s going to be difficult.  Why would I add to that?”</p><p>“Hm, good point.  Voice recording then?”</p><p>Bulma put a finger to her chin and pondered the request.  She looked to Juu and said, “I’ll think about it.”</p><p>“That’s all I ask.”</p><p>The two girls went to the cashier and paid for their purchases and got something to eat, Bulma eating more than usually.</p><p>“I can’t believe I’m starting to eat like a Saiyan,” Bulma muttered.</p><p>“Eh, you don’t really.  I mean, that’s half of what I’ve seen Vegeta eat.”</p><p>“Well,” Bulma said while cradling her stomach, “this little one is going to be half Saiyan.”</p><p>“True.  Well, good news is you won’t start showing for a while, so all those nosey business men and woman at the party won’t be pestering you.”</p><p>“Ha, thank goodness for that,” Bulma replied.  She finished eating the rest of her food and said, “Alright, I guess we should high-tail it out of here so I don’t go overboard with the shopping.”</p><p>“Yeah, because everyone knows when the baby is born, all you’ll want to do is spoil him or her rotten.”</p><p>Bulma chuckled and shook her head.  The two of them headed out of the mall and to Bulma’s car but then heard someone, or something, touch down behind them.</p><p>“Ah, Juu Gojin and Bulma Briefs.  What a surprise.”</p><p>Juu and Bulma turned to look at who was talking to them and were shocked to see Dr. Gero standing behind them…as an android.</p><p>“Oh my Kami,” Bulma replied.  “What did you do to yourself?”</p><p>Dr. Gero chuckled darkly.  “Interesting for you to ask.  See, I decided to use you as a test subject, Miss Briefs, but I did hear what you said about that Saiyan being able to sense me, so I made myself an android.  Now, we can do this the hard way or the easy way.”</p><p>Bulma grimaced and then took Juu’s hand.  The two girls started to run away.  Dr. Gero smirked and then appeared in front of them not even seconds later.</p><p>“I have enhanced abilities now, girls, as I’m sure engineers like yourselves could imagine.  Now, I believe I should take my leave, and you two are coming with me.”</p><p>“Not going to happen,” both girls replied.</p><p>Dr. Gero smirked again as the girls were surrounded by a gas he released.  He stood over them as they passed out on the ground.  “Hard way it is,” he said with a dark smile.  He was not going to make this easy on them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ of the characters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was a knock at the door at Capsule Corp.  Yamcha was waiting for someone to come answer it.  He felt bad how he acted the last time he saw Bulma.  Truth be told, he knew it was his fault that she fell for the Saiyan.  If he hadn’t cheated on her, he had no doubt they’d still be together.  Plus, after hearing the things Krillin and Goku had to say since they always were there, Vegeta was changing for the better.  Yamcha just wanted to make some peace so that maybe he could still be friends with Bulma.  And yet, here he was waiting, and no one was coming to the door.  He thought for sure that Mrs. Briefs would at least show up.  Maybe she was out.</p><p>Then he sensed a spike in energy and ran to the backyard to see Vegeta and Krillin flying off together somewhere.  Surprisingly Krillin was keeping up, signaling that Vegeta was letting Krillin follow him somewhere and also that the two of them were going somewhere together.</p><p><em>What the hell is going on? </em>Yamcha asked himself before flying off after them.</p><p>Vegeta and Krillin both felt Yamcha’s energy, but at this point they didn’t care.  After they got the lab’s location from Jay, they took off.  Jay handed Krillin a communication device so that they could stay in touch.</p><p>“<em>You guys better be careful,”</em> Jay said over the device.  <em>“This guy is nuts.”</em></p><p>“We know,” Krillin replied.  “And we will.  We’ll bring them home, Jay.  I promise.”</p><p>“If you are done with your little chat,” Vegeta interrupted, “can you focus on keeping up?  I’ve slowed down considerably and it’s already pissing me off.  If you keep up at this rate, I’m going ahead without you, Kakarot or not.”</p><p>Krillin rolled his eyes.  They were going to meet Goku before heading to the lab over the mall where the girls had been kidnapped; and, of course, Goku forced Vegeta to promise not to leave Krillin behind.  Vegeta didn’t know why he was giving in like this, but he figured it had something to do with being focused on Bulma’s and their child’s well-being.  He didn’t know what to expect when he got there, but if the machines this creep invented were as dangerous as the kid from the future said, he needed backup if he wanted Bulma to get out of this alive.</p><hr/><p>Bulma’s eyes twitched as she started waking up.  After they fluttered open, she realized that she and Juu were in a dark cell in chains.</p><p><em>What in the world? </em>she thought as her eyes started adjusting to the dark environment.</p><p>Juu’s moan snapped Bulma out of her analysis of the situation and she crawled over to the younger girl.  Juu’s face was contorted in pain and Bulma had no idea what to do.  Her arms and legs were stuck in apparently extendable chains.  She settled for stroking the girl’s cheek.  Juu’s eyes fluttered opened.  “Bulma?” she called weakly.</p><p>“You okay?” Bulma asked.</p><p>Juu nodded and tried to sit up.  When she couldn’t push herself off the ground, Bulma helped her.  “What happened?”</p><p>Bulma frowned.  Dr. Gero had drugged them and kidnapped them.  “That creep got to us,” she replied.  Juu nodded, remembering what happened.</p><p>“We’re in deep shit, aren’t we?” Juu asked, sounding defeated.</p><p>Bulma flashed her a sad smile.  “Kind of,” she said.  “But it’s okay.  The guys will know something’s up and we’ll be out of here in no time.”</p><p>“You’re quite right, Miss Briefs.”</p><p>Bulma and Juu both jumped at the sound of Dr. Gero’s dark voice and looked to the cell entrance to see him smirking at them with a crazed look in his eye.</p><p>Juu whispered to Bulma, “I really hope they find us quickly.”   Bulma could only nod in agreement.</p><hr/><p>“So what happened?” Yamcha asked.</p><p>“What do you think happened?” Vegeta yelled.  “That crazed scientist kidnapped the woman and Baldie’s girlfriend!”</p><p>“Nicknames aside,” Krillin muttered.</p><p>Goku got in between Vegeta and his two human friends.  “Look guys, we don’t have time for this.  Save it for AFTER we find the girls.”</p><p>Vegeta grunted and crossed his arms.  He just wanted to go, not sit here and explain something to a weakling who had no business being there.</p><p>“Okay, so let’s go to the lab,” Goku finished before the four of them took off to save the girls.</p><hr/><p>Somehow Dr. Gero managed to knock the girls out again and, when Bulma woke up this time around, she was bolted down to a metal table.  She could only look straight ahead, but tilted her head slightly and saw that Juu was waking up to find herself in the same boat.  This was it.  The two of them were going to be turned into androids and forced to fight the people they loved.  Which reminded both girls of something.</p><p>
  <em>Holy shit, I’m (she’s) pregnant!</em>
</p><p>They needed to get out of there.  It was now Bulma wished she were a Saiyan so she could break out of the lock and get her and Juu out of there while Dr. Gero was who knows where.  They both tried to wiggle free, but it was no use.  They were locked down tight.</p><p>“There’s no point in struggling, girls,” Dr. Gero said when he walked back into the room.  “It will only be more painful.”  After seeing his sinister smile both girls realized that this sadist wasn’t putting them under again.  He was going to operate on them as is.</p><p>“Let us go,” Bulma demanded forcefully.  She knew she wasn’t in any place to be making demands, but she was stubborn, and well, it was worth a shot.</p><p>Dr. Gero smirked at her.  “Now where would be the fun in that, Miss Briefs?”</p><p>“Look, I can give you any amount of money you want.  Just let us go.”</p><p>Dr. Gero grinned and shook his head.  “If I was doing this for money, I would have robbed every bank in the country instead of kidnapping two young girls.  I am doing this for revenge on that little monkey-boy friend of yours that humiliated me and ruined my reputation.  And what better way than to turn his childhood friend into an android, hm?”</p><p>“Then let Juu go,” Bulma replied.  “You don’t need her if you have me, right?  So why not just let her go?”</p><p>“And would I have just let her go run off to tell your friends after I appeared at the mall?  Would I let her go now to tell them now how to find my hideout?  No.  Now let’s get started.”</p><p>Dr. Gero picked up a scalpel and walked over Bulma.  He had a crazed look in his eye that rivaled Vegeta’s when he was stuck in his memory and, even at that, Bulma wasn’t afraid of Vegeta, but this man…what was she going to do?  Dr. Gero was about ready to cut into her body when Juu cried out.</p><p>“Please, turn me into an android first.”</p><p>Bulma flinched and her head tilted to look at her friend.  “Why would you ask him to do that?” she shouted.</p><p>“Bulma, I’d rather be turned into an android then sit here and watch him do this to you and your…” Juu didn’t finish.  Neither girl wanted Gero to know about the pregnancy.</p><p>“Your what?” Gero asked.</p><p>“N-nothing,” Bulma replied.  “Nothing at all.”</p><p>Dr. Gero was not convinced.  He narrowed his eyes at her and reached his hand over her body, sensing to see if something was off.  That’s when he caught it.  Bulma knew he knew when she saw his twisted smile widen.</p><p>“Well, this is certainly a surprise,” he stated in a sickeningly sweet voice.  “It appears the young Capsule Corp. VP is pregnant.  Could it belong to that other Saiyan boy?”</p><p>Bulma and Juu were at a loss for words.  The crazy scientist was pretty perceptive for someone who seemed to have lost his mind.</p><p>“Well, this is all the more reason for you to go first.”</p><p>Bulma closed her eyes as he was about plunge the scalpel into her stomach despite Juu’s cry for him to stop, but the impact never came.  Instead there was a crash and the sound of someone beating another up into a bloody pulp.  Bulma opened her eyes and felt so relieved when she saw who was doing the beating.</p><p>“Vegeta,” she breathed out.</p><p>“Hey, B, what’s up?” Goku greeted.</p><p>“Oh my God, Goku.  I’m so glad to see you guys.”</p><p>Goku flashed her a smile and broke the locks off of her.  Krillin and Yamcha were taking care of Juu.  As soon as Juu was free, she latched on to Krillin and started crying.</p><p>“How dare you go after my mate?” they all heard Vegeta yell.</p><p>“Hold on a second, B,” Goku said, holding Bulma back.  “I’ll take care of this.”</p><p>Goku sped over to where Vegeta was and grabbed his fist mid-punch.</p><p>“What do you think you’re doing, Kakarot?” he snapped.</p><p>“It’s okay, now, Vegeta.  Bulma’s fine.  We can go now.”</p><p>“Are you really that much of a fool as to let an enemy go like this?  Did you learn nothing after our fight, or even Frieza?  Plus, you already let this insane scientist get away before and look what he’s done.  He’s not even human anymore.  I’d only be killing a machine.”</p><p>“I think I have a better way,” Bulma spoke up, causing everyone to look at her strangely.  “What?  I’m good with machines.  I can shut him down, permanently.”</p><p>“What good will that do if he reactivates later?” Vegeta snarled.</p><p>“We can destroy the lab,” Krillin suggested.  “Then none of his inventions will come to life.”</p><p>Vegeta huffed, but reluctantly agree.  He then forced the doctor onto one of the tables he had the girls bolted to and Bulma started working on a way to shut him down.</p><p>“You’ll never get away with this,” he said in a panic.  “You’ll fail and I will destroy you all.”</p><p>Bulma paused in her work and thoughtfully put a finger to her cheek.  “Now where have I heard that before?  Oh yeah, every villain we’ve ever faced.”  As soon as she said that, she flipped a switch and the only thing that can be heard in the room were the sounds of her and her friends sighing in relief.</p><p>“Alright, someone needs to take the girls out of here so we can destroy this place,” Goku said.  Obviously he was hinting to Vegeta and Krillin, who went over to their respective girlfriends and flew them outside.</p><hr/><p>Vegeta stayed further back behind Krillin as he checked his mate for any injuries or problems.  His hand rested on her stomach as he sensed the ki of their child, still growing strong, unaffected by everything that had just happened to his mother.  Bulma rested her hand on top of his and gave him a quick kiss.</p><p>“I’m okay,” she said after she pulled back.  “Nothing happened.  You saved us before he could do anything.”</p><p>Vegeta pressed his forehead against her and she could see in his eyes just how worried he was, but she wouldn’t dare say that the Prince of Saiyans was afraid of anything.</p><p>“Let’s just go home,” she whispered.  Vegeta nodded and picked up speed so that they could return to the compound, their home.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the character.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>1 year later…</em>
</p><p>It had been three years of a time difference for the world the purple-haired youth from the future had visited what to him seemed like days ago.  He was shocked to see that no one, not even the androids, were on the appointed battle field.</p><p><em>Where the heck is everybody? </em>he asked himself as he flew off to the only place he could think to go, Capsule Corp.</p><p>When he touched down in front of his future home, he couldn’t help but feel sadness, seeing the peace he’d never know.</p><p>Vegeta felt the boy touch down and nodded over to the others.  Goku decided to go out to greet the boy.</p><p>“Hey, long time, no see, Trunks,” Goku greeted in a cheery voice.</p><p>Trunks panicked at the sound of his name.  He was supposed to remain anonymous or else the timeline would change drastically, which he felt it already had.</p><p>“G-Goku, what about the androids?” Trunks asked hesitantly.  “What happened?”</p><p>“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that here, although, you should be careful when you go back.  There’s going to be some weird android that absorbs Androids 17 and 18 in your time who’s going to try to go after you for your time machine.”</p><p>“What are you talking about?” Trunks responded in confusion.  How did they know this information?</p><p>“Oh, I’ll get the others,” Goku replied.  “They can probably explain it much better than I can.”</p><p>
  <em>Others?</em>
</p><p>“Hey, guys, come out here,” Goku called into the compound.</p><p>Krillin, followed by Juu and Jay, hurried outside to meet Trunks and Trunks immediately went on the defensive.  “What are the androids doing here?  We need to destroy them before they destroy the-“  He was cut off by the four in front of him laughing.  “W-why are you laughing?  This is serious!”</p><p>“We were never turned into androids,” Jay replied after he finally stopped laughing.  “Dr. Gero never even had the chance.”</p><p>“He didn’t?” Trunks asked in surprise.  “How?”</p><p>“Well, because of your description, I noticed Juu and I found out how Dr. Gero got to them.  Then Bulma helped the whole situation get avoided,” Krillin explained.  “Dr. Gero still tried to turn Juu into an android, and Bulma, but we stopped him…well, more like Vegeta stopped him.  Then we destroyed his lab and some other android he was working on.”</p><p>“That same android appeared from the future in search of what my brother and I would have been as androids to absorb us,” Juu continued on with the explanation.  “Boy was he surprised when there were no androids to be found here.  He was easily destroyed by the Z fighters after he explained to that green guy who he was and where he came from.”</p><p>“Which is why I told you to be careful,” Goku said.  “He apparently came in your time machine from the future after he killed you.  Just so you know what to expect when you go back.”</p><p>Trunks was in awe.  He had been concerned about telling them a detailed description thinking it would cause more harm than good, but it actually bypassed everything that had happened.</p><p>“What about my da…I mean, Vegeta?  Is he still here?”</p><p>Goku smiled at the teen and stepped out of his way, motioning to the door.  “Why don’t you go see for yourself?”</p><p>Trunks was hesitant, but he took Goku’s cue and walked into the compound ignoring the confused expressions of Kriliin, Juu, and Jay.  When he got into the compound, he was stunned into silence as he saw a scene that warmed his heart.</p><p>There in the living room, his mother was sitting with his younger self, feeding the nearly sleeping child a small bottle and, much to his surprise, Vegeta, his father, was sitting next to her on the couch with his arm around her.  He was staring down at the little baby boy thoughtfully before nuzzling against his mother.  She smiled up at him and took his hand that was around her shoulder and started rubbing it before placing a kiss on his cheek.</p><p>Trunks smiled and was about to leave when Vegeta’s eyes met his.  Bulma must have sensed something was up because she looked over to him too.</p><p>“Oh, we have company, I see,” she said calmly before getting up to put baby Trunks into the bassinette.  “Let me go see if there’s still any food in the kitchen.”</p><p>Bulma walked out of the room and Vegeta got up and walked over to the teenaged boy.</p><p>“Um,” Trunks said nervously, not knowing what to expect from his father.</p><p>“You’re hair gives you away, boy,” Vegeta said gruffly, but with a hint of amusement in his voice.  “Such a disgraceful color for a Saiyan prince to have.  You’ll have to make up for it with your fighting skills.”</p><p>Vegeta started heading to the backyard when Trunks asked, “What do you mean?”</p><p>Vegeta stopped and turned to face him.  He was wearing his trademark smirk.  “If you want to have any chance of defeating those machines in your time, your training under me starts now.”</p><p>He continued outside to the GR leaving his very confused, future son standing in the middle of the living room.  <em>Seriously, what happened?</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A/N: I thought I’d have a nice little ending with a very flustered and confused Trunks.  He blushes at like everything in the anime, that I just had to embarrass the crap out of him ^_^  Well, I hope you liked this happy ending.</p>
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